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IN THE CAMPAIGN OF 18S£ 



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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year i 
By C. F. JOHNSON, 
the Office of tlie Librarian of Congress, at Washiiigli 




BKNJAMIX HARKISDX, 
LEVI P. MORTON, 
CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW, 
WARNER MILLER, 



S. V. R. CRUGER, W. D. GUTHRIE. J s 

ELLIOTT K. SHEPARD, GEORGE A. SHERIDAN 1 S 

JOHN S. WISE, J. A. ADAMS, ' w 1 

ROBERT P. PORTER, M. S. Q^A^■, \Vm. 



CLARKSOI 
FASSETT, 
V. DUDLEY 
CASSIUS G 



Quotations from Address of Chaunx-ky M. Depkw, 

Invitation, ... 

Announcement— (r, 2, 3,— our Poet's definition of •■Spellbinders, 

List of Guests, .... 

List of Letters of Regret, . . . _ 

Menu, 

Proceedincs — 

Prayer, .... 

Songs — Professor Adams, . 

Letters of Regret, .... 
Addresses — 

Chaunce\- M. Depew, 

Warner Miller, . 

S. V. R. Cruger, .... 

Elliott F. Shepard, .... 

John S. Wise, .... 

Robert P. Porter, .... 

George A. Sheridan, 

W. D. Guthrie, 
Closing— Chauncey IVL Depew 



15-16-17 
19 



23-25-26 
30-31-32 

33 
40 

4.6 
47 
51 
• 67 
73 
80 



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i^il^^^OlH 



New York, November 12th, iSSS. 
Dear vSir ; 

The speakers of the campaign just ended will meet for mutual couKratulatioiis 
at a Dinner to be given at Delmonico's, on Wednesday-, November 14th, at S P. M. 

Chauncey M. Depew will preside, and toasts will be responded to by Col. Robt. 
G. Ingersoll, Dr. MacArthur, General George A. Sheridan, Robt. P. Porter, Whitelaw 
Reid, Col. Elliott F. Sliepard, and other well-known Repuljlican speakers. It is 
probable that Vice- President-elect Li-vi P. Morton will be with us, and also Hon. 
Warner Miller, Col. vS. V. R. Cruger, Col. Joel B. p:rhardt, and others of our leaders. 

If you wish to join with us, you will forward to Delmore Elwell, ICsij., 44 
Broadway, N. Y., the sum of seven dollars ($7.00), and your name and address, 
when a card to the Dinner will be innnediately forwarded to you by messenger. 

Please reply AT ONCP: to this, so that we may know exactly how many guests 
to provide for. 



Very respectfully yours. 



liDWARD F. McCASKIF:, 
DELMORE ELWELL, 

COL. LOUIS H. aymf;, 

Committee of Arrangements. 








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A NNO UNCEMEN T- 



CAPT. JACK CRAWFORD, 
HOW THE WORD WAS BORX. „„, sp,llh,„da Poet. 

•• Such Fellows 1 " said Colonel Goodloe, with a curious smile on his face, 
As he stood, 'mid the dire confusion, at a great political place 
Where speakers were congregated to tell of the battle fought, 
And how they could hold the masses deep-rooted to the spot. 

"This is the way thev' tell it," the great Kentuckian said; 
"They come, with a hand extended, and a proud and lofty head. 

And sav: ' Last night at the meeting there were .speakers a half a score ; 

And, as each one 'rose on the platform, the people filed out at the door; 

• ' ' But though to the last they held me, till the audience was worn out, 
When I began on the Tariff and other issues to spout. 
The people leaned toward me, and sat there with bated breath, 
As, with my great oratory, I put Free Trade to death. 

" ' The people paused in their leaving, and halted around the door: 

Then turned, as my accents reached them, and sank in their seats once more; 

And there, for an hour, I held them, as if by magnetic spell, 

As, with my great thoughts outspoken, I sounded Democracy's knell— 

" ' Aye ! Spellbound I held the masses, as they never were held before; ^ 
And applause that was really deafening was hurled at me o'er and o'er.' 
"These men," said the Colonel, smiling, " I meet upon every hand— 
' Spellbinders ' I've learned to call them." And soon, all over the land. 
That word "Spellbinders " was scattered; and now so great is its fame 
That clubs of eloquent speakers will adopt the neat-fitting name. 
To the Colonel belongs the honor of coining the famous word 
Which now flies all over the country with the screams of our Eagle bird. 



^xD'avsti^^ 



' The Lfadino Idea of (he J/ewe;//,'' . . ChaunckY M. Depkw 

77/e Siuress/ii/ S/.rndani Hearer oj Ihe /'ar/y^ . Coi.. RobkkT G. Ingkksoi.I, 
T/ie Iiijhteiue of the Press in the Campaign f CoL. Eli.iott F. Shkpard 

The 'Bowery Parrot; '' ...... ROBKRT P. PoRTER 

The Soil nnder onr Feetf .... General Geo. A. Sheridan 

Tlie Soil nnder onr Hatsf 

Tin- Politieal Fntnref WhitELAW Reid 

The Yonng Men in the Campaign o/ iSSS;' . . W. D. Guthrie 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR OTHER SPELLBINDERS TO "SPELLBIND." 



c PEILB)NPFRs . 



i A'.vo f •. vcA-.i//-:.v r- 



WMITKL.WV RI<:il), t^; 



Gknkkai. Joseph C. Jacksox, A. R. \Vhitxi;v, 

Edward F. Bakti.ktt, William H. Williams, 

William H. ISkllamv, Eknkst H. Cr()si;v, 

(iKXKKAL T. X. KXAI'P, C. C. SlIAVNK, 

H. K. TnuKiiKR, Col. Frkd. (^raxt, 

J AS. p. Foster, Iv C. Fo.ster, 

T. P.. Willis, Col. W. W. Dldlkv, 

I). Ci. Harrimax, Thomas Sl<.)Axi-., 

O. S. Teai.l, Johx F. Pll-m.mer, 

W. I). (h-THRiE, James W. Pirkett. 



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O^^JWXTY.Y. OT W^^K^GY.^Y.W^S.\ 



Edward F. McC.askie, Delmore lii.wELL. Col. Louis H. Ayme. 




'-^m^^^' 



Adams, J. A., 
Ammidowii, Edward H. 
Atkins, Addison, 
Ayme, L,ouis H., 
Angel, James R., 
Appleby, Charles, 

Bellamy, Albert, 
Bellamy, \V. H., 
Baclnis, H. C, 
Barnum, H. A., 
Bussey, Cyrus, 
Bowden, J, B., 
Birkett, Jas. W., 
Burnett, H. S., 
Butterfield, Daniel, 
Barton, Geo. D. F., 
Baker, John F., 
Bigelow, Chas. C, 
Bogardus, W. H., 
Blau, Bernard, 
Bridgman, Herbert L., 
Burton, O. F., 
Bigoney, N., 
Breslin', Jas. G., 
Bamberger, Peter C, 
Bold, Lewis H., 
Boomer, W. B., 
Brock way, H. H., 
Bartlett, Ed. F., 

Colcord, Samuel, 
Chapman, Wm. H., 



Cruger, S. V. R., 
Conkling, George E., 
Collis, C. H. T., 
Cowles, Walter S., 
Crall, M. L. H., 
Cravyford, Jack, 
Cockerill, John. 
Co.stello, P. C, 
Cronin, Charles G. , 
Curtis, A. vSidney, 
Case, Jas. ,S., 
Crosby. Ernest H., 

Depew, Chauncey M., 
Dickey, J. M., 
Donau, S. H., 
Dorcher, Wm. C, 
Dodge, Miles H.. D.D.S. 
Dunning, William, 
Derrick, W. B., 
Dakin, M. F., 
Dre,s.ser, Horace E., 
DeGraw, Geo. P., 

I<;yans, Thus. H., 
lihvell, Delniore, 
Eller}-, Channing, 
Erskine, Chas. W., 
Evarts, Maxwell, 
Earle, D. D., 
Edwards, Guy R., 
Ewing, Thomas, 



Floyd, John G., 
Fowler, C. N., 
Fuller, \V. H., 
Foster, Iv. C, 
Fanning, William, Jr, 
F'oster, Alon/.o, 



nev, Frederick (i., 
Ixs, Fred'k S., 
hardt, lulward, 
lersleeve, David H. 



Grant, F. D., 
Guthrie, \Vm. D., 
Glea.sou, Henry, 
Giffing, John C, 
Griggs, Henry T., 

Hume, Jas. H., 
Harper, E. B., 
Hayes, W. B., 
Hess, Jacob, 
Hortoii, Dudley R., 
Hoyt, Jesse, 
Haddock, John C, 
Hegemau, John R., 
Hawes, Gilbert R., 
Hazen, Geo. W., 
Henriques, Svdendiani P. C. 
Hurlburt, Henry C, 
Hawkins, l{ugene 1)., 
Hyatt, vS, Burdett, 
Harriman, D. i)., 

Jackson, Josejjh C, 
James, \V. I).. 
John.son, C. F., 
Jacobus, John W., 



Jackson, R. C., 
Jones, A. Delmont, 
Janes, W. D., 
Jenkins, John F., 
King, Jewell, 
Knapp, Joseph, 
Kimball, William, 
Ketcham, F. S., 
Kimball, Charles, 
Kelly, Jas. S., 

I<exow, Chas. K., 
Leaycraft, J. Edgar, 
Lane, A. T., 
Lock wood, J a red, 
Lems, J. N., 
Littlefield, John L., 
Lippincott, Je.sse H., 

McNamee, D. H., 
Mitchell, David, 
Mitchell, John Murrav, 
Mitchell, Edward, 
McCracken, J. H., 
Miller, Gen. F. F., 
McCaskie, F^dward F., 
Man, Edward C, 
McLean, Donald, 
Miller, Warner, 
Morris, Samuel, 
Murray, Joseph, 
Merrit't, Gen., 
Moore, Chas. A., 
McAlpin. K. A., 
Meade, Clarence W., 
Magie, James H., 

Nichols, Geo. L., Jr., 



Ochiltree, Thos. P., 

Peck, Prof, Wilfred M., 
Porter, Robert P., 
Paulson, Leonard, Jr, , 
Pratt, Gen. h- V., 
Pangborn, Z. K., 
Peixotto, B. F., 
Porter, David F., 
Parkinson, W. J., 
Parke, H. G., 
Parker, Geo. W., 

Reddy, William, 
Rosenthal, Alexander ,S. 
Reed, T. T. B., 
Roberts, T. H., 
Rutter, Robert, 
Roach, Stephen, 
Roper, T., 

Randall, vSamuel H., 
Rowell, Chas., 
Roberts, Timothy H., 
Robinson, Frank, 

Shepard, Elliott F. , 
Stevens, Henry I{., 
Small, J. Henrv, 
Smith, Chas. W., 
Shayne, C. C, 
vSloane, Thos., 
Shaffer, O. P., 
Smith, John S., 
Smith, Clarence M., 
Sabin, C, D., 
Simms, Jacob H., 
Scherck, N. L., 



Streeter, S. T., 
Sperry, Frank, 
Sheridan, Geo. A., 
Stone, A. R., 
Schwartz, Julius, 

Teall, Oliver Sumner, 
Taintor, Chas. N., 
Towiisend, Jas. B., 
Tomlison, Harvev, 
TuthiU, Theo. K., 
Tavlor, Alfred, 
Thurber, H. K., 
Teed, Rev., 

Van Meder, W. K., 

Van Gelder, J . , 

Van Wormer, Jnhn R., 

Wi.se, John S., 
Whitney, A. R., 
Wilson, Jas. H., 
Walters, Henry, 
Willis, T. B., 
White, S. v., 
Waring, Wm. H., 
Wilhams, William H., 
Whittemore, William L. 
Whittemore, H., 
Waterman, S., 
Worthington, Ralph, 
Worthington, Geo., 
Wandling, J. L., 
Wormer, T. P., 

Young, S. Edward, 
Young, Thos. H. 



THK FoLLoWIXCr LKTTKRS oK RE(;RKT WERE RECEIVED 



Atkins, Addison. 
Armstrong, William, 

Baker, Charles D., 
Bliss, Cornelius N., 
Barnum, H. A., 
Bishop, C. F., 
Backus, Henry Clint( 

Cromwell, GeorgL-, 
Conkling, Alfred R., 
Clarkson, J. S., 
Claflin, John, 
Carroll, H. K., 

Dudley, W. W., 
Davis, A. M., 
Dodge, Miles H., 

Erhardt, John H., 
Eckert, W. H., 

Foster, Mrs. J. ICllen. 

Griffin, Albert, 
Grow, John A., 
Gallagher, H. D., 

Harrison. Benjamin, 
Htibbell. Charles L.. 

Ingersoll, R. G.. 
Ingersoll, Edward P. 
Ives, W. L.. 



Landon, Henry L., 

Morton, Levi P., 
MacArthnr. R. S., 
McCarthy, Rev. Chas. P., 
Mnrrell, William,- 
Matthews, H. A., 
Moss, Frank, 

O'Farrell, Patrick, 

Parsons, Heiu-y. 
Phnnmer. John F., 
Pierce, John H.. 
Parkinson, Jas., 

Reid, Whitelaw, 
Root, lUihu, 

Shannon, R..hcrt H., 

Thoms..n. 1-. A.. 

riman, H. Charles, 

\'an Renssalaer, James T. 
\'an Vorst, Hooper C, 
\'alentine, Fred. C, 
\'ernon, Harold, 

Windnm, William, 
Warwick, J. II. 



pfLLBINPfRs 



^'^^^^^^^3IP 



S^:>^^^^'^''*. 



^^^ 



(inimc Coluinl 



Petits pois au Ijeurrt- 



MORS D'OEUVRE 
Tinihak-s a la reine 
POISSON 
Bass rayee. hi)llaiidaise vtrt-pre 

I'liinnics de terre a la viennaise 



RELEVE 

Filets dt houef a la jMC-nioiitaist 

ToinatL-s au gratin 

ENTREES 

Pouk'ts sautes a la Dumas 

Ris de veau a la puree de niarrons 

Scirliet : Delice 



Choux de Hruxelles 



ROTS 

Cauanls a tete rouge 

FROID 

Tcrrine de foies-gras a la gelee Salade de laitue 

ENTREMETS DE DOUCEUR 

Poudiug atix lianaues 

Gelee ceuterba ' Charlotte 

Pieces montees Glace : Fautaisies 

Fruits Petits fours Cafe 

21 




Chauxckv M. Dkpkw presided. 

Tlie proceedings were opened with prayer by Rev. Dr. Teall. 
After a portion of the dinner liad been dispo.sed of Mr. Dkpew said: 
Professor Adams will begin the intellectual entertainment with a song." 

Song by Professor Adams: — 

(;OOD-BY, OLD (TROVER, GOOD-PA' ! 



The train is coining around the bend, 
Good-by, old Grover, good-by ! 

It's loaded down with Harrison men, 
Good-l)y, old Grover, good-by ! 

Chorus — Bye, free trade ljab\- ! 

Rock it, Grover, tenderly 
Bye, free trade bab>' ! 
We'll smash the cradle ! 
Good-by ! 

23 



Free trade is busted, protection, we saj- ! 

Good-by, old Orover, good-by ! 
Roast beef to eat, two dollars a day'! 

(ioocMiy, old (',ni\-er, good-by I — Clio. 

The time has come In' loyal men — 

Good-l)y, old Gro\-er, good-by 1 

To shoot the bandanna and vote for Ben I 

Good-bye, old Grover, good-by ! — Quo. 

No rebel flags will be returned ! 

Good-by, old Grover, good-by I 
Those veto cranks true soldiers spuin ! 

Good-by, old Grover, good-by ! — Cho. 

Vour colors are out, the English rag ! 

Good-by, old Grover, good-by ! 
We still unfurl the American flag ! ' 

tiood-by, old Grover, good-by ! — Ciio. 

Tippecanoe, and Morton, too ! 

Good-by, old Grover, good-I)^- ! 
If you can't remember, you will in November ! 

Good-by, old Grover, good-by !— Cho. 

Vou are going away for the countrv's good ! 

Good-by, old Grover, good-ln- ! ' 
A case of iiuiocuous desuetude I 

Good-by, old Grover, good-by ! — Ciio. 

Vou are going home to take a rest ! 

Good-by, old Grover, good-bv ! 
We'll SL-iid \ou to England with vSackville Wesi 

Gnod-by, old Grover, good-by ! — Ciui. 

When the March winds blow the cradle will fal 
Good-by, old Grover, good-b\- 1 

Down come Grover, baby, and all I ' 

Good-by, old Grover, good-l)\- ! — Ciio. 



Mr. Dkpf.w: — Professor Adams said he never sany a second time until the 
intellectual repast was finished. In all American assemblies, canvas-back duck is 
reco<,niized as an intellectual repast: therefore, I call on Profes.sor Adams for 
Numl)er vSix. 

Son": by Professor Adams: — 



CLEVIvLAND'S LAMENT. 

liV PROl'. J. A. ADAMS. 

I am •j:>mtff far away, far away to leave you now, 

.\iiil up Salt River I am quickly .sailing, 
And I'll take my tribe along, and we'll sing our ]iarting .song 

As we sail back to Buffalo, my home. 
Chorus — Down in the corn-fields. 

Hear that mournful sound, 
All the Democrats are weeping, 
Grover's in the cold, cold ground. 
I am going far away, for I know I cannot stay, 

And I'll use that old bandann-a while I'm crying, 
And to wipe away those tears for the sins of many years, 

As I stay there in Buffalo, my home. — Cho. 
I am going far away, far away from Washington, 

For I've heard some dreadful tidings from Chicago, 
That the G. O. P.'s alive, and with Harrison will drive 

Us away back to Buffalo, my home. — Cho. 
I am going far away, for I've stayed four years too long, 

Ancl the people all insist ujion my going ; 
For Protection is their wish, and they'll .send me home to fish 

In the ponds around Buffalo, my home. — Cuu. 



I am going far away, from November sixth to stay. 
And by that time I'll have written my last veto : 

For as Roger Mills has said, " You go home and soak your head;' 
I'll attend to that at Buifalo, my home.— Cho. 

I am going far away, and I know not where to go. 
Where myself and free trade can give satisfaction ; 

To the cold Siberian hills I'll take Roger Qurius Mills, 
For no friends have we at Buffalo, my home. — Cho. 

I am going far away, for you know the reason wh3% 
For the people of New York are daily singing, — 

Poor old Grover's in the cold, and that when the votes are polled, 
I'll be buried up in Buffalo, my home.— Cho. 



Mr. Dkpkw: — Professor Adams will continue the intellectual repast by 
singing X umber h'\\e. 

Song In- Professor .\dams: — 

AND WE'LL ALL FEEL GAY. 

(TuTie—-' When Jclmny Conies M.irrliiiis; Home." Key— B 11.11.) 

When " Johiuiy" comes marching home again. 

Hurrah I Hurrah ! 
The " Union " men will Hip ! Hip ! Hip ! 

Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
Free trade will fly and freedom come, 
Olad shouts ring out from every home, 
.\nd we'll all feel gay when Tippecanoe goes in. 



Old Grover he will have to get, 

Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
For he can't stand the bayonet, 

Boo-hoo ! Boo-hoo ! 
The "Johnnies" they have got the gout 
We'll have to turn the rascals out ! 
And we'll all feel gay when Tippecanoe go 

The lion will growl across the main, 

Hurrali ! Hurrah ! 
While Grover echoes back the strain, 

Voo-hoo ! YoG-hoo ! 
And over to England, in a pet. 
Our Lion-clad President will get ! 
And we'll all feel gay when Tippecanoe gc: 

The Grand Old Party will not dcnvn. 

Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
Protection is its jeweled crown. 

Hurrah ! Hurrah 1 
The eagle perches on its crest ; 
The Lion cannot rob the nest ! 
And we'll all feel gay when Tipjiecanoe g( 

The Stars and vStripes shall he (lur flag. 

Hurrah I Hurrah ! 
We'll have no red bandanna rag ! 

Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
No Turkey red nor Rebel gray 
Can steal our loyal hearts away ! 
And we'll all feel gay when Tippecanoe gi 

Get ready for the 'jubilee," 

Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
For Home and Rights, and Liberty, 

Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
No "substitute" can win the day ! 
A Harrison now leads the way ! 
And we'll all feel gay when Tippecanoe gc 
27 



Three clieers from Oregon to Maine, 

Hurrah ! Hurrali ! 
For Morton, Harrison and Blaine 1 

Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
Three rousing cheers for victory I 
For FVeenien's rights give three times three ! ! 
And we'll all feel gay when Tippecanoe goes in. 



Mk. Dkpew: — We will now have a telegram from the President-elect of the 
United States. 

Col. Louis H. Ayme read the following- telegram from President HarrLson: — 

Edv. F. McCaskic, Pclmoyc Eliccll, Louis //. Avmc, 

44 Broadway, New York. 

GenTLEMKX: — I am compelled to decline your invitation to attend the diinier at 
Delmonico's, this evening, given to the Republican Campaign Speakers. I camiot claim 
a place in this honoraVjIe oimpan\- of great campaign orators. The principles they advo- 
cated were worthy of them, and tlie advocates were worthy of the cause. 

(Signed) BENJAAHN HARRISON. 

[Three cheers were given for Harrison. Crie.s of, "What's tlie matter with 
Harri.son ? " " He's all right ! "J 



Col. Av.mk:— I have a letter in my hand from tlie Vice-President-elect of the 
United States, dated November 13th, 1888. 

New York, Novemlier 13th, 1888. 
Mr. Dr/„w,r F.hccll : 

Dkak Sir:— It is with extreme regret that I have to inform you of my inability to 
be present at the banquet at Delmonico's, on Wednesday evening, in honor of the speak- 
ers of the campaign just ended. The honor it is your purpose to show td thcin is 
thoroughly well earned. To the able manner in which they set before the people the ])rin- 
ciples advocated by our party at Chicago, and the policy of the Republican Party, is due 
the large measure of success, especially in New York vState, for which we are now all 
rejoicing together. It would have given ine great pleasure to express to them, in person, 
my warmest thanks, but, as I cann(jt ilo this, I beg that you will convey to these battle- 
weary warriors my high appreciation of their successful efforts, and believe me, 
Very faithfully yours, 

(Signed) LEVI P. MORTON. 

[Cries of, "What's the matter with Morton ? " " He's all right ! "] 

Col. AvmE:— Mr. President, 1 have another letter in my hand which, I 
think, sir, deserves the closest attention of every one of us present. 

Mr. Dclmorc FJurll : 

Dkar Sir :— Social conventionalities forbid my personal presence at y<nir great 
gathering. From a heart deeply moved with the contest, and with the victory, permit a 

29 



written salutation. The cani]xiii;n was di,>;nififd in inethotl, elevattd in tone, vii^orous in 
action ; the issues upon which it was fouj^ht were vital to the Nation's lite. The victory- 
was glorious, but cha.stened with the .sense of responsihilitx' whicli moral warfare alwaj'S 
bring.s. 

The full diapason of our Hallelujah chorus is even richer for the minor strain — the 
vox humana — from this Empire State, which failed to crown its lieroic son, — Warner 
Miller. But the eternal years of God are Truth's, and Time's tribunal .shall show him to 
have been as true a victor as is the Nation's cho.sen chief, — Benjamin Harrison. 

Among the hundreds who will rejoice around yoin festive board (over the victory 
the\ helped to win), no woman's voice will be heard. God knows (and many women 
know) that they toiled up to the full measure of their ability and opportunity. He only 
knows how much their prayers weighed on the side of that Christian ci\-ilization of which 
the Republican Party is the political exponent. 

The active su]iport of Republican women was assured when the Chicago Conven- 
tion adopted the resolution introduced by Congressman Charles A. Boutelle, of Maine : 
"The first concern of all good government is the virtue and sobriety- of the people, and 
the purity of the home. The Republican Party- cordially sympathizes with all wise and 
well-directed efforts for the promotion of temperance and morality." Upon that platform, 
and with Benjamin Harrison and Levi P. Morton, the party went to victory ; and the 
Nation rejoices. 

Gentlemen, we are with you still. Organizations of Republican w(T4iien will be 
maintained, increased, and strengthened ; We shall abide with you, not as dictators, but as 
helpmeets. With you we will labor to conser\-e the fruits of victory ; and may the God 
of Nations — the God of our fathers — enlighten and guide. 

\"ery truly yours, 

MRS. J. ELLEN FOSTER. 



Col.. .\vmk: — Mr. President, here is another letter in which we are all inter- 
ested—from Col. Ingersoll. 

400 Fifth Avenue, New York City. 

Mr. Dclmorc FJurll , ii /hvad'd'ay, City: 

I)E.\R Sir :— I regret to say it is impossible for ine to be present with you this 
evening to celebrate the great victory. Benjamin Harrison and Levi P. Morton were 
nominated because the Republican Party had coniidence in their ability and integrity. 
Benjamin Harrison has lived a useful life. He has discharged his obligations, .stood by 
his convictions, and kept his word. He has hoed his own row, and made his own way as 
a soldier of the Republic and an x\merican. For many months a nuiltitude of men sought 
to find, out of the record of his life, some fault or flaw, some blot or stain ; and I con- 
gratulate, not only the President-elect, not only the Republican Party, but the American 
people, becau.se no fault or flaw, no blot or stain was found. 

The life of Morton is that of an honorable, honest man. He has traveled from 
poverty to wealth, from obscurity t(.i fame, not by the winding paths of trickery and fraud, 
but by the highways of honor ; and has fairly won the place he holds. A great victory 
has been grandly won. 

Thanking you for the invitation, and again regretting my inaliility to be present. 

Faithfully yours, 

R. G. INGKRSOLL. 

p_ s.— I delayed writing as long as I could h(.]nng that I might feel well enough 
to come. 

[Three cheers were given for Col. IngersoU.] 
31 



Col. AvmK: — I will also read a letter from Rev. R. vS. MacArthiir. 



Nkw York, November 12th, 18SS. 

De.vr Mr. Ei.wki.i. :— Your courteous invitation is this nionient received. I 
much regret that I cannot do myself the pleasure of being with >ou at Delmonico's, on 
Wednesday- evening, the 14th inst. You will have a joyous time. It is in every way 
fitting that such an opportunity to express our joy for the past and our hopes for the future 
should be afforded. I have an imjiortant church engagement for that evening. 

I am full of gratitude and jow It was a brave fight : it is a grand victor\-. Hut, 
now, the victors and the vanquished will rejoice together in the great blessings which will 
surely come to our common country. We are patriots now ; the Eastern sky is colored 
with the crimson and gold of a brighter da\- in our political sky than we have seen for 
some years at least. 

Kindly express my regrets to the company- ; but neither you nor I can express my 
joy, hope, and enthusiasm. 

Yours tndy, 

R. S. MacARTHUR. 



MR. DKPKW. 

Tliere liave been many ,L;atlK-rinys in tlie Ihiited States, but, durin.i^'- the 
century of its existence, none like this; an<l for the coming- century it may be a 
cause of tliankfulness that this is the only one ever held. 

To Leather two hundred campaign .speakers within one hall is an appalling- 
thing to contemplate; [laughter] every one of them loaded to the muzzle with 
oratorv, and onlv the restraining gavel of their chairman to prevent their firing it 
off. [Loud laughter and noise. Cries of, '' (iive him a chance! "] 

When I arrived here to-night I received note after note saying, in almost the 
same form, "After the regular sentiments, give me a chance." When I came to 
count up the number of these appeals I found there were one hundred and eleven. 
The chairman is tender-hearted, and loves to oblige his friends— the janitor will 
please lock the d(jors. [Laughter and applause.] 

So long as all conditions of humanity, of age, of race, of color, ot nation- 
alitv, and of .se.x can unite for such pnrpo.ses as they wish to accomplish, or such 
principles as they believe in common; and so long as any human being who can get 
nobody to agree with him can flock by himself, there is no reason wh>- the campaign 
speakers of this Republic should not have a society. The\- are a much-suffering, 
patient, and hardworking part of this industrial Nation. They believe in Pro- 
tection, and wish whenever the\- speak they may be protected from an\- other 
speaker the same evening. The ])eculiar qualifications that go to make up the 
campaign orator are possessed b\- onh- a very small portion of the si.xty millions ot 



Americans. He must lia\e a constiliUit>n whicli can i^o without sleep, and a 
digestion that can stand any meal. [Laughter.] The railroad car must be tor 
him a couch of ease, and the marvelous concoctions he must eat at private and 
public boards will threaten his internal peace for the rest of his days. He must be 
of the qualit\-, plnsically, which deiies everything that kills off the rest of mankind; 
and mentalh', that can stand hostile criticism, the storm of ad\-erse audiences, and 
the failure of the applau.se he most covets. (Tiven the.se qualifications, and the 
campaign orator starts out to enter ujion labors, the terrors of which are known to 
no others of the professional or working classes. The committee recei\es him at 
the depot with rcsettes in the lapels of their coats, or, if he has come to fill the 
ajipointment of the favorite orator who was e.x]iected, — with ctirses and shot guns. 
If he is a distinguished man, there is an open barouche and horses witli plumes 
iqion their heads. There is a inx)cessiou with a brass band in front and cannon 
behind, and a uniformed comixmy. He is unfit for his place if he cannot follow 
that procession and breathe gallons of coal-oil smoke from the torches, and then talk 
in a clear tenor voice for two hours. He must never lo.se faith in his own ehxiuence, 
uo matter what becomes of his audience. 

I was once invited b\' a county committee to address a meeting at the capitol 
of the State, and through that meeting, the people of the Commonwealth; and 
they .selected the most distinguished of their local statesmen to preside and make 
the introductory s])eech. The result was that, at the end of three hours and a half 
of this chairman's orator}', the only ]ieople left in the hall were the reporters, the 
band, the count\' committee, and myself [Laughter.] 

This organization receives its name iVom the fict that the canqmign supplied 
speakers ol high and low degree, whose common habit it was, in their modest 

34 



references to their efTorts, to state tliat on every occasion they hehl "acres of 
auditors spell-bonnd." It has been a trite remark, for years past, that the orator 
has lost his phice, and llie speaker has no mission in life. It is true tliat the news- 
paper educates, and that the editor writes with a i'ullness of information and intel- 
ligence of opinion wliicli prepares an audience, so tliat it knows quite as much as 
the speaker; but, if tlie speaker is gifted with tlie elements uf the orator — the mag- 
netic voice; the wi_)rd painting of fict and illustration; the ]:)ower of so stating what 
he believes that his hearers of the same party, from passive members become active 
entliusiasts; the tact to su impress and yet not offend the doulitful that they are 
thenceforth converts to his taith; and the talent to bulli irritate and dishearten the 
enenn- — he demonstrates the perennial power of siieech, and that there never can 
be any sid)stitute for genuine oratory. 

There is a belief that the great orators are dead and that they have left no 
successors. In the more jirimitive periods, when the people were not educated by 
the universal distribution of new.spapers, magazines, and tracts, the orator's voice 
was the only way of impressing political principle. lint the speecli which, in 
earlier times, reached the mulitude and roused enthusiasm could not be delivered 
to-day to any audience on the American continent. You read them now, with their 
wastes of words upon the primer of politics and history, and their stilted platitudes, 
with weariness and wonder. I have heard most of the famous men, tlie traditions 
of whose elocpience are the despair of the orator who uexer heard them. I have 
listened to vStephen A. Douglas, with his vigorous argument, slow eniuiciation, and 
lack of magnetism; to Abraham Lincoln, with his resistless logic [applause] and 
quaint humor; to Tom Corwin, with his rollicking fun and bursts of fiery elociuence; 
to Salmon P. Chase, William H. Seward, Charles Sumner, Wendell Phillips. As 

35 



I look liack and recall what tht.-\' said, and the effects wliicli they produced, and 
calmly cstiiii.ite what the\- ini.i;ht 1)e alile to do with the highly cultivated and 
thoroughly informed audiences of to-da\-, there is onl\- one of them who strikes me 
as possessing qualifications which are not duplicated by orators who could be uamed 
among our contemporaries. That one is Wendell Phillii)s. [Applause.] In the 
\-igor of his pure vSaxon; in the marvelous lucidity with which he stated liis facts; 
in his own volcanic, yet sup])ressed passion which aroused the wildest enthusiasm 
in his audience; in the way in which he met and conquered the most dangerous and 
venomous audiences, he lias left no equal or survixor. 

The cain]iaign speaker is, of all jjeople, the worst ])lagiarist. He does not 
hesitate to steal anything he sees or reads. ,Some ten years ago, I prepared with 
great care, a speech that 1 pro])osed to delixer every da>- in a campaign of three 
weeks. After the third deli\'ery I found that an orator from another State, with 
great reputation, who ])receded me b>" two nights at my apijointments, deli\-ered my 
speech word for word. .\n(l to cold audiences, who looked and listened as though 
I was the cliami)ion fraud of the century, I repeated that sj^eech twice before I 
found it out. 

K\-('TO\'ernt)r Tom Ford, of Ohio, told me that he once went on a caiuass 
with Salmon 1*. Chase, go\ernor, senator, and chief justice. ^Ir. Cha.se had an 
argument jnepared and committed to memory which he repeated every night. 
Governor h'ord, a practical joker, with a marvelous meuuiry, asked the privilege of 
speaking first, and he delivered Chase's speech. Chase came forward and, with 
great dignit\-, said, That he liad listened to Mr. Ford on manv occasions, but never 
before had he known him to seize the subject witli a giant's grasp — that he had so 
completely covered and exhausted the ca.se that there was nothing left for any 

36 



luiinan being to sav. But Ford said he never was able to resume his relations with 
Mr. Chase. 

A distinguished English statesman told me last summer, that two politicians 
on that side went out campaigning together, and each delivered, on every occasion, 
substantially the speech with which he began. The Chase-Ford trick was played 
bv the les.ser upon the greater light. When they got back to their hotel, the man 
who had repeated the other's speech .said to him, " It is singular that that speech of 
yours, which has been received e\-ery where else with such immense applause, caused 
none here; and those jokes of yours, which seemed so good, fell dead here." And 
the great .statesman looked at him sympathizingly, and said, "I spoke here two 
weeks ago." 

Now, the campaign speaker retires from the canvass into his business and 
disappears from the public eye. But there is something of the dramatic spirit 
aroused in him. He loves the platform, the cheering audiences, the wild acclaim; 
and it is difficult for him, if he has been a long time out, to settle back again into 
the trend and current of life. It is the peculiarity of this canvass that the profes- 
sional speaker had little part in it, but that the great business community furnished 
the orators. From everv profession and a\-ocation volunteered men who felt that 
their highest duty to their country, and their best .service to their business was to 
instruct their fellow-citi/.ens in those principles to which they had pinned their faith. 

That feeling of interest which brings together men of kindred views and 
enthusiasm will make this as.sociation memorable, not for to-day, but for all time; 
and adding to its membership those who hereafter come along ami are worth>- of 
the guild. We are not here to-night to explain how we won this fight. It is a 
peculiarity of politics, fortunately, that those who are victorious have no time to 



waste in accounting- for tlicir victory, but leave to those who are vanquished the 
wearyino; task of vexing- tlie ears of their listeners explaining how thev got left. 

\Vc both, the campaign speaker and the listener, on an occasion like this, 
which is sympathetic, sentimental, and of hilarious character, cannot fail to note 
how the ordinary man describes the causes of his defeat. .\ statesman of the (irand 
Central Depot yard, leaning against a switch the next morning after election, .said 
to his companion, " Moike, what do you think did it?" "Well," said he, "Pat, 
it strikes me that it was Mills' Bill." " ( )h," said Pat, " yon are wrong; it was the 
surplus." "Well," said Mike, "if it was the surplus, whv the divil didn't old 
Cleveland take the surplus and pay Mills' Bill?" [Shouts of laughter.] 

The most significant of inaugurations is that of the coming March. With 
the close of the administration of ;\Ir. Cleveland ends an hundred vears of American 
liberty; with tlie inauguration of Benjamin Harrison begins the second centurv. It 
is not an imaginary line of time which .separates these cycles; it is, and will remain, 
a distinctively dividing line of national history, development, and jiolicy. The 
century which clo.ses with Mr. Cleveland marks the death of the things we have 
most talked about; marks the burial of the issues wc have fought over; it ends the 
Solid South; it cleanses the bloody sliirt; it unifies all .sections and makes us one 
people; it buries partisanship, based upon .sectional and territorial divisions, in a 
grave which, we trust, will never be reopened, and erects upon it a monument of 
eternal patriotism. 

The administration which undertakes the beginning of a new century has a 
responsibility and duty larger than has fallen to an\- other administration .save two; 
the first, Wa.shington's; the .second, Lincoln's. With tlie enormous power which 
now belongs to the jiresidency of the United States the President becomes the 



party. The part\- cannot escajx- hnni his acts, cannot flee from liis character, 
cannot deny his recomniendations. It li\-es and triumphs, it falls into decay and 
is defeated by his grasp upon the needs of the present and the necessities of the 
future. The great questions which are to develop an industrial nation and keep it 
prosperous — the great (piestions whose proper settlement means credit or bank- 
ruj3tc\- — are prol^lenis which will press upon the coming administration, and by the 
way in which it handles them the organization behind it will continue in power, or 
be forced into a minority. We, after this victor\', witli the smoke cleared away and 
calm judgment returned, look, with unquestioning confidence, to the future and the 
man who is to administer it. His courage has been tested; his judgment has been 
proved; his faculties have irradiated the Republic with their mar\-elous acti\-it\' and 
steadiness; his integrity, character, ami abilit>- fill the full measure of the require- 
ments of the presidential office. The Republican Party says to Pi'esident Harrison, 
"Hail, Chief I Lead on; we follow." 

[Loud ajiplause and cheers. Three cheers for Chauncey M. r)e|)ew.] 



Mr. Dki'KW : — (Gentlemen, we luue with us a gentleman who is not on 
the regular list of speakers, bxit we all want to hear him : Hon. Warner Aliller. 
[Loud cheers for Aliller.] Though not mentioned in the list, where McCiregor 
sits, there is the head of the table. I introduce him without any .sentiment but 
himself. 

39 







Mr. 


I'RKsn 


)i;.\T . 


AM. C. 


KXTLK-AiKx;— I 


Re 


pul 


)lic;lll 


orators who 


for th 


e past 


two IlKJ 


till 


■oil! 


y\i tlif 


State, 


and b 


y their 


words 


of wisd 


doiiig- 


so iiiuch to 


arouse 


' and e 


iithuse 


our peo] 



:\IR. MII.LKR. 

c-auie here, i^ladly, to join with tlie 
itlis ha\-e been .yoing up and down 
loin, and by their i)rivile,;e of speech, 
id I esteem it a great pri\-ilege 
to-night to be permitted to meet with these g-entlemen, to receive their greetings, 
and to greet them. During all iin- campaign it was scarcely ever ni\' privilege to 
listen to any voice save my own. I am not going to-night to take up the time of 
the campaign speakers — it belongs to them upon this occasion. As brother Depew 
has said, every speaker desires the whole evening for himself, and it certainlv would 
not Ik- proper that I should upon an occasion like this obtrude mvself, or any 
lengthy speech, upon the gentlemen who are here assembled. 

I have very few words to say, indeed. I believe that the \ ictor\- that we have 
won in the nation far exceeds in importance anything that has happened in our 
day. This government has been restored to the men and the partv that saved it. 
.\ reaction had set in, and this government had been turne<l over, absolutely, into the 
power of the men who .sought to destroy it. ,Sonie of us had looked on in wonder 
to .see what .should become of a government like ours, which — witliin one-quarter of 
a centnr>- after a spontaneous war waged, on the part of a portion of our people, for 
its destruction— should be found, in all its powers of legislation, and in all its 
executive departments, absolutely under the control and genius of the men who 
had ri.seii up in rebellion against it. 

The four years have gone by, and the American people, looking on upon this 
strange and rare sight, have come to their .senses and have restored this government, 

4'-' 



I sa>-, to the hands of the men and the party that saved it. The lesson that has 
been learned by onr people in this campaign, arising from the threat that has been 
made against its indnstries, its prosperity, and its progress, is snfficient, in my 
judgment, to retain this government in the hands of the Republican Party for at 
least the next generation. We cannot measure the benefits that should come to us 
from this change. If we want to make a comparis(jn; if we want to disco\-er what 
benefits are to come from returning this go\-ernment to the hands of the Republican 
Party, we have onlv to go over the history of this government, from iSCn down to 
the present time, and there to learn of the wonderful growth and develoi>nient of 
this country under Republican rules and Republican principles, to be able to torm 
some faint idea, at least, of what shall be the future growth and prosperity of this 
countr\- under a continuation of that rule for a quarter of a century more. 

As ]\Ir. Depew has said, we are just ending the first hundred years of the rule 
of American presidents. During the past twent>--five years, while under Repub- 
lican presidents, the growth of this countr>' was four times as great as it had been 
during the whole twenty-five years preceding it; and now, with the accumulation 
of wealth; with the accuuuilation of capital ; with the accumulation of experience 
and skill which we now have in this country, can anv one undertake to foretell or 
forecast what shall be the growth of this country during the next twenty-five 
years ? 

The Republican Party has given this country every reform that has come to 
it during the past half-century. It has settled every great question that hat; been 
presented to the .\merican people. First, it decided that the curse of slavery should 
be restricted and confined within close limits; and then, when one portion (.>f our 
people rose up in rebellion against that proposition, the Republican Party not only 

41 



maintained nnity and perpetnated the ITnion, bnt it went further, and settled the 
slavery question by abolishing;- it. Durin.i; all the first seventy-five years of our 
history the idea, or the belief, of the ri.i;ht of a State to nullify the laws of 
Congress, or the right of a State to secede from this go\ernment if it saw fit, had 
found credence and belief throughout a large portion of this countr\-. The Repub- 
lican party settled that question b>- forever annihilating the idea that a single State 
could nullifv a law of Congress, or could withdraw from this government if it 
desired to do so. It settled then the question of secession, and it settled it against 
it. Then, it has .settled the great question of our finances. It has done what no 
other nation ever undertook to do; that is, to pay its debts incurred in war. In 
.short, it has .settled every public question that has been presented to it. 

The last great question — and one not less important, in my judgment, than 
any of the others — it has settled in this country is the industrial question; settled it 
beyond any revocation or change — at all events, within the lives of the men here 
present. No party, no set of men will be bold enough, in the near future, to pro- 
pose for the serious consideration of the American people, that our industries shall 
be broken down that foreign industries ma>- be built up. Xo part}- nor .set of men 
will, in the near future, advocate the idea that American labor shall be empty- 
handed and idle in our streets, in order that foreign labor ma\- be emi)lo)ed in 
foreign lands. The Rei)ublican Partx- has settled this question and, in settling it, 
has restored the walls of progress in every ])art of this couutr\-. Every man knows 
to-night that he may with .safety undertake any enterprise; every man knows to- 
night that if he has any ca])ital saved u]) he may put it into American industries — 
American mims, .\merican manufactures, and American products of e\-ery kind; 
and he knows that this growing si.\t}- millions of people, growing constantly as it 

42 



is in mnnbers ; crrowino- constantly in intellio:ence ; ^[rowing constantly in its 
incroasino; demands npon the industries of the country for the supply of the wants 
which come to a civilized people — I say, every man knows to-night that here in 
this land there is to be an abundant market for every product that can be produced 
in this countrv. And everv laboring man knows, also, that he is to have securit\- in 
his labor; he knows that in the future he is to have a rate of wages which will not 
only give him food and clothing, but one which will give him hope that he may 
one day become a capitalist himself Such a condition lifts labor up and puts it 
upon a higher plane, for it makes it certain to our intelligent laboring men that they 
shall become the owners of their own homes; that they shall become independent in 
their callings. 

And so, I sav, no man to-night can, by any possibility compute, or even 
imagine, the great results that are to come to the American people— to all of us— 
because of the victor\- that we have won. It is not merely a victory which changes 
petty offices; it is not a victory which merely turns out this tide-waiter and puts in 
another tide-waiter; it is a victory which reaches every home and hearthstone in 
this country and which builds up and makes a greater, stronger, freer people. And 
this Republican Party, in my judgment, will meet in the future, just as it has in 
the past, everv great and important question that may be submitted to it. I have 
no doubt of it at all. Just as it met slavery and secession, and has gone forward 
during all the manv years of its life in which it brought success, so this party 
stands ready to-day to lift up every banner which may bear upon it an in.scription 
which is in the interest of home and virtue and of all of our people. 

The Republican Party has brought about every reform that we ha\-e had 
within the past fifty )-ears, and we are to look to it for every reform that is to come 

43 



ill the near futiire. First, it is bound to take hold of the .^rcat problem of ballot 
reform. We ha\e witnessed, in the last few years, in this great State of ours which 
has now orowii to be an empire, with its vast wealth and accumulations of moiie)' — 
we have witnessed treachery, corruption, bribery, in the highest offices and at the 
polls, unequaled in the history of this country, and, I judge, in the history of the 
world; and we are going to settle these questions, and see to it that the fundamental 
principles of this government are not overturned. We differ from other civilized 
nation.? to-day chiefly in this: That we appeal to the judgment and views of every 
man, and of every citizen, to say what shall be our government, and what shall be 
our princijiles, and how that government shall be administered; and, therefore, any 
corruption of the elective franchise, and any system which leads necessarily to the 
payment of large assessments by officeholders, no matter what their rank ma\- be, 
and particularly when it shall affect the judiciary of this country, cannot fail to 
work serious and lasting evil. 

The Republican Party has taken up this question. I want to say here that, 
in my judgment, it will never cease its agitation of it until it shall evolve a system 
of elections in this country which shall make corruption and bribery at the polls 
substantially impossible, .so that, when the ballot-box has received the vote of the 
American citizen and it shall have been counted, all of the people will accept the 
decision without fear or hesitation, knowing it to be the unbought, unprejudiced, 
unterrified, and uninfluenced voice of all of our people. I believe it will meet that 
(piestion, and I believe it will meet the other great question of temperance reform 
also, and meet it successfnlK'. .\ free peojile, a self-governing people — where every 
citizen above twent\'-one years of age is a voter — must be a sober people; otherwise 
it cannot be a safe government. 

44 



The Republican Partv has inel this .i;reat question of teniperauce reform in a 
majority of the States tiiat are uow under Republican rule. Whatever advance has 
been made in the last t\venty-fi\-e \ears in this case has been made by the Repub- 
lican Party, and the people must look to them for advancement or success in that 
direction also. I believe that here in the State of Xew York, notwithstandiuo- the 
great power and influence of the saloon, that the cause which was advocated b\- the 
Republican Party in the late campaign— that of high license— is certain to triumph 
in the near future. The Republican Part>- is committed to it, and the Republican 
Part^■ has ne\-er yet in its history, Mr. President, taken a step forward upon a 
question of reform and then gone back, and if it should now attempt to go back, it 
will end in the ab.solute and unquestioned dissolution of the party. 

1 believe, from what I have seen as I have traveled over this great empire of 
ours, and have stood before thousands and tens of thousands of people in the last 
six weeks, I believe that the tide is now rising in that direction, and that it is just 
as certain to overwhelm and destroy the opposing forces as the tide is to rise and 
fall in New York Bay to-morrow. At all events, the Republican Party is embarked 
in that great cause, and I do not believe that any considerable portion of its num- 
bers desire to go back. I have enlisted in the cause, and I gave the opposing forces 
notice that, no matter what might be the result of the late campaign and election, 
this war would go on until a glorious victory had been won. I gave the opposing 
forces notice, since this election closed, that this last contest upon the State was 
simplv the first Bull Run, and that it would go on until we received their uncondi- 
tional surrender at their Appomatox. 

[Three cheers for Warner Miller.] 
45 



Mr. Dkpkw: — A gallant soldier, a perfect gentleman, an ideal Republican, 
was the lieutenant under Warner Miller. He is nut a speaker, and does not claim 
to be, but he can stand up and be counted: Colonel Cruger. 

COLONKI. CRUGER. 

Mr. Presidkxt: — I think, sir, that you will confirm the statement that I am 
not one of that noble band of one hundred and ele\en who have asked you to gi\'e 
them a chance; it would therefore be inapjjropriate in me to monopt)lize the time 
which it is \our duty and pleasure to accord them. I came here to-night to enjoy 
the intellectual feast prejjared for us by the vSpellbinders of that most remarkable 
and interesting campaign which was brought to a triumj-ihaiit conclusion on Ttiesday 
of last week. While I was one of the wounded in that contest, I have so far recup- 
erated, under the healing influences of the National victor}-, as to be able to stand 
uj) here to-night and rejoice as heartily as any one of you in the triumphant 
election of our gallant standard bearers — Harrison and Morton. 

I feel that the Republican Party did itself honor in having the courage to 
inscribe on its banner " High License and liallot Reform," and that it acted wiselv 
in selecting as its standard bearer in this .State a man who had the courage of his 
convictions; who clearly stated those convictions to the people of almost e\-er}- 
count\-. I believe that by this action of the Republican Party we will eventnallv 
see our cause triumphant in this .State. 

I will not detain these eloquent speakers who are here to-night 1)\- any further 
remarks; simply thanking \-ou for calling upon me. 

46 



Mr. Dkpkw:— ("Tentleinen, I take special pleasnve in introducin.^^ the next 
speaker. He took a newspaper, pnt into it his enerq-y, behind it his fortnne, and 
ran it as tlie only Repnblican evenini,^ paper in New York. Its admirable manage- 
ment and its intelligent discussion of the great questions was one of the marked 
elements of our success. In addition to that, in every way a man could assist 
in the canvass, he did not onh' his full share, but more than anybody could 
a.sk of him. I am ver>- happy to present,— as you will be to welcome,— Colonel 
Elliott I". Shepard. 

[Cries of, "What's the matter with the Mail and F.xpirss"' "He's all 
right I" "Three cheers for Shepard!"] 

ELLIOTT V. SHEPARD. 

Mr. Pre.sidknt .v.nd Ff.llow-Citizen.s:— According to the printed list a 
text has been given to me, [laughter] which is, "The Influence of the Press upon 
the Campaign," and, with your permission, I will stick to the text as a nailer does 
to his heads. 

Firsth-, then, I would sa>- that the operation of the Press— that ]>rofession in 
which I am only a />;?;Tr;///— has been, in this campaign, ver\- much like that of a 
cotton-press. The resolutions of the Chicago National Convention of Republicans 
furnished the platform. The National Committee, the State Committees, and the 

47 



various Countv Coinniittecs furnished the frame-work, the uprights, and tlic cross- 
ties. The mills and factories and industries of the country furnished the machin- 
ery. The hydraulic engineers were that Titan of the Press, Whitelaw Reid; 
Charles Kmory Smith, of the Philadelphia Press: Field-Marshal Alurat Halstead, of 
the Cinciiiiiati Coiiiuirriial; Joseph Medill, of the Cliicago Tiil)u>ic; Robert P. 
Porter, of the .Wrr )'()/■/■ Press; with their fellow-Republican editors; and they 
stood read\- to turn on the power, which was the will of the people. [Applause.] 

Then the vSpellbinders all lent a hand. [Cheers.] They gathered up the 
free trade bal)y, they wrapped it in a bandanna, they wheeled it upon the platform, 
they adjusted it just under the timber bulkhead of the Press. When everything 
was ready the (ieneral vSuperintendent, (leneral Harrison, of Indianapolis, [cheers] 
gave the word of command, "Turn on the screwsl" Then, with the precision and 
certainty of an irresistible power, the ballots began to flow in, and down came the 
bulkhead of the Press upon this little form, wrapping its ribs around it several times 
over and crushing the very life out of it. Then the Spellbinders stepped up and, 
with bands, not of aiiiia, l)ut of iron, bound it. The machinery was then re\'ersed 
and the little carcass taken out, shrix'clcd like an Eg\ptian mummy, and hiero- 
ghphed and frescoed over with the name of "Cirox-er." [Laughter.] It was then 
put on the truck and shipped up Salt river to the Never-after. And the work 
having been done, we are here to-night having a good time. [Applau.se.] 

vSecondly, the Press is something like the phonograph and the graphophone, 
with the addition that, while with them you have to use an audiphone to hear 
what they have to sa\- to you, with the Press you only have to pull the wool off 
your eyes and see. Nearly everything they print is something that has first been 
spoken by somebody. If you should desire to-morrow, or hereafter at an}' time, 

4'^ 



to reproduce the speech of the American Cicero — [cheers for Depew] the gentleinan 
wlio presides this e\-eriing — it would be only necessary to go to Hoe's c^'linder — 
that cylinder with which we print two thousand papers a minute, and find it \-ery 
far superior to the little cylinder of wax or of tin foil which the graphophone uses, 
and which takes twice the length of time to reproduce what it contains than it 
took to deliver the original — and \-ou will ha\e a speech which will be heard and 
listened to and admired by not only an assemblage of one hundred and eleven, 
but by a crowd much larger than that which he ever addressed at iJinghamton, 
which covered a ten-acre lot; a crowd which will nund^er millions of people, and 
which will cover the whole C(>untr\-. [Ajjplause and cheers.] 

Thirdly, the influence of the Republican Press will be very much strength- 
ened if the good people will desist from jjatronizing the Democratic Press. Tliey 
can find out everything tliat is necessar\- for them to know alioul what the otlier 
side says from the replies which the Rei)ublican Press nud<e to it; and, if the\- are 
sustained in this matter, the Re])ublican Press will be such an educator of the people 
that you will never need, in the f\iture presidential elections, to stand trendding, 
wondering how the great State of Xew York is going. She will be on the side of 
the Republican Part\- b>- such an o\erwhelming and apparent majority that the 
Democrats will always give it u]) in advance. [.\pi)lause.] 

Fourthly, the sentiment which runs thmugh the Republican papers has the 
patriotic colors — red, white, and blue; [applause] and that is as true moralh' as it is 
true physically of the Lockport Daily Jonnial. This jimrnal, [exhibiting it] on the 
morning after the election, had its first jjage coxered with red, white, and blue 
stripes. It has downed the bandanna, and the vStars and vStrijies are on the top. 
lu this way that journal painted that city red on the recent Re]Md)lican cel- 

49 



ebrations; and tlie joke of tlie iiiatlcr is that it was the Democratic sheet in 
tliat city tliat had prepared to do tliis thing, and, finding it had no occasion to 
nse its materials, persnaded the Rejiublican paper to bny tliem. [Langhter and 
applanse.] 

Fifthly, and lastly; I think that evervl.xxly will concede that, if it had not 
been for the Republican Press, Harrison and .Morton would not have been elected. 
[Loud applause and cheers.] And, therefore, with the assistance of the Spell- 
binders, whose audiences we make so much larger than can be reached bv their 
single voices, in 1892 the Republican Press will again undertake to elect your 
Republican nominees. [Cheers.] 



Mr. Dki'KW: — (ientleuien, a soldier with an historic name, identified with 
the best traditions of the oldest commonwealth — the mother of Presidents, — at sev- 
enteen followed the enthusiasms of his school and section, went into the Confederate 
army, was touched in the head by a Federal bullet, and has been the patriotic 
.standard bearer of Republicanism in his State ever since. It affords me great 
])Ieasure to introduce to you one of those intellectual forces converted bv material 
elenients which are rapidly making Virginia a Republican State; a gentleman 
who has ,ser\ed with distinction in Congress as a southern Republican congressman, 
wliosc views are sound, and whose rare elo([uence is inherited, and still all his 
own: Mr. Wise, of \'irgiuia. 

50 



MR. WISE. 

Mk. Chaikm.w:— I have heard to-ni.Q;ht for tlie first time, a pleasant version 
of the influences which made me a Republican. Tlie Democrats in my .section 
,t;-ive the little circumstance to which the chairman referred quite a different turn. 
Their contention is that I was shot in the head in the Confederate army, and my 
brain has never been right since. [Laughter and applause.] Be that as it may, I 
am here, in a fortunate position as to speaking because, following the toast to the 
Press, I can testify that its influence must be most powerful for good, seeing its 
infinite power for harm in the section from which I come.. [Applause.] 

Like my predecessor I had a te.xt given to me, but it is very old. It is called 
the "Solid South;" a thing which we came here, not to praise, but to bury. It was 
in this room, if I mistake not, at a famous banquet of the New England Society, 
that we had great promise vears ago aljout a new Smith. What it would do was 
painted in words that were matchless in their fit and in their sound, but they were 
as empty in results as the professions, politicallv, of the section from which they 
came. [Applause.] 

I am here as a Republican who has left the South almost in despair; and yet 
ardent and staunch in the hope that the Republican Party, restored to power, will 
do its dutv bv the South, and make it honest in its elections. I come as one who 
cast his lot with the Confederate cause, and loves the memory of the Confederate 
dead, but who has lived to see and realize the final settlement of every aspiration of 
that struggle, and know that we have a perpetual I'nion for the future, broad 
enough and big enough for every honest man beneath its banner. [Applause.] I 
am here to say to the Republican Party of this country, in all seriousness, at the 



iiiosi i()\ All period of its existence, and \-et at a period more freii^lited with respon- 
sibilit\' than an\- other, that the ,t;Teat, the oversliadowin.i; qnestion which confronts 
it on its restoration to power is Whetlier it will <^ive to the American people 
snch gnarantees of snfFrat^e as will .^ive them faith in tlie honest>- of our form of 
government, and teach all Americans that the right of castinjj; a ballot means 
the right to cast it, and that, when cast, it shall lie counted at all hazards. 
[Applause.] 

I do not come from the Solid .South. [Applause.] I come from a .State that 
has ens/ its vote with the Republicans since i.S,S4, and has not been coitiitfd Repub- 
lican merely because the Republican Party has not done its duty in seeing that the 
\-ote should be counted as it was cast. We belong to a party wliich, having won a 
victor\-. has shown itself lionest enough to pay for it; catholic enough to forgive its 
bitterness; wise enough to adiniuister the government liberally; strong in mau\- 
things; reckless in few; and yet which was rash enough to invest a great mass of 
people with a franchise sufficient to overthrow its own power unless the new \-oters 
were guarded and guaranteed in the exercise of the rights wliich the part\- ga\e 
them. I ha\e wondered, in tlie four years during which the Republican Part\- was 
out of p(.)wer, at the patience and ])atriotism which ha\-e enabled Republicans 
quietly to stand by and .see this government .stolen by the very power wliich thev 
had placed unprotected in the hands of the .South. Ves, I .sav, stolen, (irover 
Cleveland, in his heart of hearts, knows he was never President of the Ignited 
States, (irover Cleveland, in his heart of hearts, knows that the people know he 
was never President of the United .States. [Cries of, "Yes," "Yes."] Yet the 
Reimblican Party — not revolutionary, not a shot-gun jjartv, not a Ixillot-box-stuffing 
party, not a negro killing i)arty — has patiently bided and waited its time, and been 



rewarded with that restoration to power which it knew must come when the 
people pondered at the wrong of 1SS4. [Applause.] 

Mr. Chairman, and gentlemen, the lesson which we have learned will not be 
lost. Through adversity comes wisdom, and through damage by past neglect 
comes caution against future recurrence of the wrong and injury. Such bitter 
experiences as we have had will teach us most valuable lessons, yet they have been 
mingled with absurdities which we have reall\- enjoyed. Our little banishment at 
Elba has not been free from its amusements. It was really ludicrous to see a man, 
whose title was founded in a fraud which none knew better than himself, posing as 
the champion and exponent of a higher moral era. [Applause.] It has been an 
interesting sight to behold a Texas manager of " bucking bronchos" appear in the 
commercial metropolis of the nation to teach its people the first principles of politi- 
cal economy. [Loud and long applause.] The pla>- has been worth the candle. 
It was refreshing to .see a man who never knew any manufacturing indnstry except 
the making of turpentine from North Carolina pine knots, come up tu the great 
spinning looms of Xew Kngland to teach them what the real interests of manufac- 
turers were. [Applau.se.] It has been novel and startling to see the kind of people 
raked up from the recesses of oldivion, who have masqueraded in major-general's 
uniforms in foreign courts, and gotten druid^ abroad in honor of Democratic 
success. [Applause.] All this is fresh and refreshing, nut having gone too 
far, and the country having been redeemed in time to prevent its becoming dan- 
gerous. The strut and pomp, the panoply and circumstances of latter-day Democ- 
racy has had no parallel since the da\- when Lincoln freed the Southern darkies. 
And the most amusing thing of all is that the happiest people at getting out of the 
trouble are the Democrats themselves. The\- have run the government just about 

53 



as far as they knew how. Tlicy are at heart iininenseh- relieved at a result which 
puts an end to their responsibility. [Applause.] 

I liaxx- heard our friends here to-ni.i^ht speak of many thint^s which we 
Reiniblicans did to defeat the Democratic Party. If they will pardon me for taking 
a little from their laurels, I will .say that the most effective factor in this defeat has 
been the Democratic Part\- itself Four years of administration was enough to put 
them into political bankruptcy. What have they done that was promised ? Thev 
came into power ujion the cry that " Public office was a public trust," and their 
chief who uttered this noble sentiment has wound up his career bv pa\-ing ten 
thousand dollars to sta\- in that public trust, and dispense offices as a private per- 
(piisite. [.Applause.] They came in with a cry against a.s.ses.sments for public office, 
and yet, I venture to assert that in the history of this government there never 
was .so positive a signal given by the executive of this nation for "the bovs " to 
"chip in," as when Grover Cleveland sent in his check for ten thou.sand dollars. 
[.Applause.] They came into power pledged to Civil Service Reform; thev go out, 
after four years, with a record of removals unparalleled in the historv of partisan 
legislation. [.V pplau.se.] They came into office with the promi.se that the accumu- 
lated surjilus would be distriljuted. They leave exactly twice the amount there 
that was in the coffers when they took charge. They came in denouncing the 
Internal Revenue system of this government. In four vears thev have made the 
perpetuation of Internal Revenue the bulwark and basis of the Democratic plan 
of taxation. They came in with the promise of a liberal education, and thev three 
times defeated the Republican measures for the remed>- of illiteracv. There is not 
line ])romisc of Democracy which has been redeemed, from the reduction of the 
tariff to the production of a little President. [Laughter and applause.] Is it 

54 



surprising, then, that to every proposition of ours to discuss, in the last campaign, 
tliev said there was no issue in the canvass. [Laughter and applause.] 

But, why read over the indictment? The prisoner has been arraigned, 
pleaded, been tried, convicted, and sentenced; and we are back ! We are back, 
because the Democratic Party was glad to give up the thing. We are once more 
in power, because there are many Democrats who have found that the\- were disap- 
pointed in the trinmi)h of Democracy, from which they e.xpected so much. I con- 
fess that I have no s\-nipathy for their misfortunes, and feel indescribable mirth at 
their sorrv plight. Poor Cleveland's luck has failed them, and now they are piling 
their denunciations upon him. Amen ! .So be it. A Democrat asked me, a few 
davs ago, what I thought was the cause of their defeat. I told him I did not know 
exactlv, but mav be it was because they did not have hog-killiug at the right time 
last vear. [Laughter.] Another one .said. Well, he didn't care much aljout it 
anyhow; that he had come to the conclusion that Democracy rewarded its followers 
and workers witli promises, and paid its old promi.ses with new ones. He illus- 
trated what he received for being a Democrat by a little story, with which, I have 
no doubt, many of \ou are fiimiliar, but I will repeat it. There was a little darkey 
in our .section who had been in the habit of playing on the street corner every 
evening with his friends. He disajipeared for several da>-s. When he came back 
one of the bovs said, " P.ill, you're not playing with the boys these eveniu's; what's 
the nuitter?" He .said, "I'm working now." The first boy said, "Who are yon 
working for?" "Oh, I am working for my iiuunun." "Is she pa\iug you?" 
"Oh, yes." " What are you doing? " " Well, I am cutting wood." "What does 
vonr nu)ther give vou?" "Two cents an eveuin'." He said, "I don't lielieve 
yon; I never see you have any money." "Oh, no, I ain't got no money; mammy 

55 



keeps it for inc." "What are you going to do with the money yon are earning?" 
"Well," said he, hesitatingly, " mammy says she's gwine to buy me another axe 
wid my mone\- when dis here old axe wears out." [Laughter.] 

Xow, gentlemen, permit me to say that I am not here as the critic or the 
censor of the Re])nblican Part\", for great and wonderful has been its career in 
almost evervthing but its treatment of suffrage in the vSouth. It was a problem, 
and a very grave one, whether the Republican Party when it had succeeded in 
maintaining the supremacy of this nation and, in furtherance of that object, had 
freed the slaves, should invest the colored man in the South with the franchise. 
But, having .settled that question, it became the duty of every Republican in charge 
of its affairs to enact such legislation as that these poor people should not be 
exposed to danger and injury by having placed in their hands this suffrage. They 
were passive in the matter, and when tlie Republican Party made them voters it 
likewise made them the object of the animosity and antagonism of the Southern 
Democrat. It had not discharged its whole dut\' when it made them voters. TJie 
act of enfranchisement carried with it the duty to fortify them in tlie exercise of 
that franchise, and guarantee that it .should be cast and counted. Failure to do this 
placed it in the power of the Southern liourbon to use it as a stick with which to 
break your head. Had I been in the counsels of the Republican Partv in that dav 
I think I would have foreseen this possibilit}-; that I would ha\-e thought long and 
anxiously whether that strength ought to be given to the South, wherebv its 
electoral strength was augmented two-fold, and it was placed in a position where it 
was possible for it to regain .so quickly the control of this (iovernnient in peace, 
which it had lost in war. P.ut, in their wisdom, the Republican leaders solved that 
branch of the question and did invest the colored man in the South with a vote. 

56 



Therein-, and thereby alone, the electoral representation of the South was so 
increased that, under sinister manipulation of the franchise, it rei,^ained in 1S84 a 
mastery in Federal administration. The Republicans themselves are responsible for 
a condition of our political affairs in which it was possible for the vState of New York, 
backed by the insii,rnificant pocket handkerchief of Delaware, and the States of New 
Jersey and Indiana, to unite with the fraudulent solid electoral vote of the Southern 
States and dominate this government for four years. No wonder that New York is 
called an empire! Of the immense vote .she cast, the little majority of eleven 
hundred breathed into the nostrils of a fraudulent Solid South power and strength 
sufficient to absolutely control, for four years, the people who had less than twenty 
years before conquered it in arms. 

No wonder that, at the sight of such rampant fraud, the men who really love 
the Republican principles on which our system of suffrage is based, trembled at the 
danger of a repetition of that crime 1 It involved, not only four years' administration 
of the government and the little offices which are distributed, but, if outrages like 
that of 18S4 are to go on, the faith of our people in the honesty and permanency 
of oin- institutions is .sapped and undermined each day that it continues. The 
pretense that our Croverument is based upon a fair and free expression of the will of 
a majoritv is a falsehood and a mockery, and we invite the seizure of the Adminis- 
tration b\- anv individual or party who feels strong enough in force or fraud to make 
the attempt. As a Southern man I would look with great pride and satisfaction 
upon the South wielding great power and influence bv honest means in every 
department of this (Government. The South .should, with her great and growing 
industries, hold a commanding position in our nation, and she doubtless will do so 
in the future; but, as an honest man, I loathe and scorn the disreputable methods 



by -which the Solid South of to-da\- is broni^ht about, as de<Tradino; to the men who 
perpetrate tlie crimes and frauds there, as uuwcirthy of tlie manly and honest 
traditions of that section, as a j^rave menace to our form of (Tovernment, and a 
strong temptation to those who are wronged by the outrage to resist it by like 
violence. [Applause.] 

But, "time makes all things e\'en." We ha\-e come back into power. The 
thunders ha\-e rolled along the heavens, and darkness has settled on them as the 
\-eil of the temple of Southern Rourbouism is rent in twain where they have 
mocked and murdered suffrage. The danger of their fraudulent supremacy is past. 
The Republican Part\- is strengthened and refreshed, rather than injured by its 
temporary rexerses. It has learned much. It is not coming back with flame and 
sword, but with some things written in letters of light upon its \-ictorious ensigns, 
so that the wa}'faring man, though a fool, can understand them. Its triumph 
proves that, although the people condoned (irover Cleveland's violation of the 
seventh conimandment in the year 1884, tlie\- will not submit to the continued 
breaking of the sixth and eighth injunctions of the Decalogue by his followers in 
tlie South. One is, " Thou shalt not steal," and the other, " Thou shalt not kill." 
IJefore we lose the control of this government again it is our purpose, I opine, to 
sink these solemn commandments into the hearts and brains of every man in Amer- 
ica in such a wa\- that nobody will forget them. [Long and loud applause.] 

There are jieople all through the vSouth to-day who still vote with the Dem- 
ocratic Party, who are longing for the opportunity to become ReiDublicans. There 
are thousands and thousands of them in my State. Of the 205,000 white voters in 
Virginia, 70,000 of them voted for Harri.son and Morton, and nothing but the theft 
of the black vote prevents that electoral vote from being counted as it was cast. 

5S 



Eacli vear witnesses a i^rowiny- return tn the sentiment of \'irginia's first and great- 
est statesman and soldier. It was Washington who taught these people that 
their Nation was as dear to them as their .State; it was Virginia's Marshall who 
expounded the great national compact in such a way as made all men love it. It 
was nothing but the sinister influence of .slavery that ever led that State away from 
true Federal doctrine. With the death of slavery has come back a healthy and 
normal Federal feeling in the land which made this I'nion a possibility. But it 
matters not how many Republican votes we have if the Republican Party fails to 
perform its solemn duty and secure to ns an honest count in the South, and an 
honest vote. This is second to no question; it lies right at the foundation of our 
svstem and concerns everv man who sincereh- hopes for the perpetuit\- ot this CtOv- 
ernment. If an electoral vote mav be stolen in Mississippi, it may be stolen in 
Massachusetts ; if it may be stolen in Virginia, it may be stolen in New York. 
And, in mv opinion, it was the righteous .sense of indignation of our people, and 
the conviction that (jrover Cleveland's support was based upon fraud, tliat made 
the people of this land rise up and put back the Republican Party into power, in 
the faith and hope that it would remed>- this wrong. It is not the masses of the 
vSouth who do these crimes; it is a few rascals who have charge of the political 
machinery in the South; it is a trade and a profession with them which they have 
found profitable. The great body of our people are right-thinking and honest, and 
deplore these things as much as )-ou do. The newspapers, with a few honorable 
exceptions, and the cross-road politicians of the South, encourage and justify the.se 
gross outrages because they profit by them. The masses of honest, decent people, 
although they condone them by their aapiiescence, are ashamed of them, and feel 
that they do our .section infinite harm. It requires, simply, the heroic treatment of 

59 



the great part\- in power to eradicate this blight on our civilization and stamp it out. 
Whoever accomplishes this great result will receive the blessings of thousands who 
now, against their wills and inclinations, are acquiescing in these crimes, and niereh- 
by force of their stirroundings jxissively submit to and condone them. [Applause.] 

I left ^'irginia after I had remained to cast my vote for Harrison and ^Morton. 
I turned my back upon the old State, almost with tears, — the home of m\' people for 
o\-Lr two hundred and fift\- \ears. I went there, openly and avowedlv, to enforce 
the ideas which are dear to us as Republicans, and the people welcomed me with 
open arms. Ihit the lionrbou press of that communit\' assailed me with character- 
istic brutality, and I feel honored by their abuse. If their teachings are followed, 
and their blackguardism is to set the key of jmblic sentiment, the South will retro- 
grade and degenerate so that, in two hundred years from to-day, instead of cheating 
and killing darkies at the jkiIIs, they will be eating each other for a dailv amuse- 
ment. [Applause.] 

r>ul I have no fear of ultimate results. The Southern people are right at 
heart and their instincts are high, rather than base. Thev have not made a record 
as cheats and siieak-thie\-es in the annals of the past. Their worst enemies will 
accord to them the merit of open and manly advocacy of tlie things for which thev 
have contended in the past, and scorn for methods of fraud and deceit. The 
revulsion against the things that have been done there in elections for the past 
twenty years is as sure to come, and come with crushing vengeance upon tlie heads 
of those who have done them, as it is sure that the South retains in her bosom the 
germ of her past greatness and honesty. Her people will learn, if from no higher 
motives than those of selfishness, that they cannot afford to countenance the yearly 
commission of crime and fraud in her jjolitical affairs, because the inevitable result 



must be crime and fraud, and lack of confidence in each other among themselves in 
private concerns, and the absolute shunning of a section where such things are 
done with impunity by the outside world. [Applause.] 

The issue which the Republican Party makes with the South is not the issue 
of negro domination there. I know that the vSouthcni liourbon is instant and 
constant in contending that this is what the Republican Party demands. I know 
that he justifies his intimidation of and fraud upon the vote of the colored man 
under the plea that, if he permits him to vote, the negroes will control. But that 
is not the demand of the Republican Party, nor will that be the result, in my 
judgment, if the colored vote is cast and counted. Certain it is that I would never 
have become a Republican if I believed that in doing .so I was uniting with those 
who sought to put mv own race under the domination of the blacks in any State of 
this Union. Nor do I believe there is any considerable number of Republicans in 
America, of the white race, who, if the>' saw such results brought about after a fair 
test of the experiment of negro suffrage, would not aid in redeeming their own race 
from any such tliralldoin. 

What the Republican Party demands, and what it intends to insist upon, is 
that Southern Bourbons shall be honest ! [Applause.] Until they are honest there 
can be no intelligent decision as to the effect of negro suffrage. It was an experi- 
ment and whether it was a good or a bad one remains to be seen, when it has had a 
fair trial. It is not a ver\- exacting demand upon any man, or set of men, that they 
shall be honest. Especially is the demand not exacting when it is made upon com- 
munities which were re-admitted to their rights in the Union upon the solemn pledge 
that they would recognize the civil and political equality of the negroes. This 
pledge was not only given by these people in the abstract, but ever>- man who votes 



subscribes this solemn oath when he registers himself; and so, when he participates 
in the notorions frauds upon the suffrage, he commits personal perjury. It does not 
follow that because a particular locality has a negro majority ignorant and incom- 
petent blacks will obtain control. I can point out to you counties in Virginia in 
which the elections are honestly conducted; in which, notwithstanding the\- have a 
large preponderance of negro population, the Democrats refuse to blacken their souls 
with the crimes committed elsewhere; in which Democrats and Republicans, whites 
and blacks, will tell you there is no cheating, and that a healthy public opinion will 
not submit to it; yet in which, notwithstanding that in Presidential, Congressional, 
and State elections the colored vote is cast as a unit for Republican candidates, 
when count}' elections occur and offices of local responsibility are to be filled, it has 
been found impossible to make the negroes vote for candidates merely because thev 
called themselves Republicans; but they choose the best men in the coinmunitv 
even if they are Democrats. They do so because the\- know tlie\ will not be 
cheated, and that if the\- put inferior men in office the responsibility, as well as the 
loss, will be upon them. This is a practical illustration of what an honest dealing 
with the question of negro suffrage will bring about, and a refutation of the pre- 
tense that, if their votes are honestly counted, the result will be negro domination. 
Lest I be thought to be speaking without facts to sustain me, I cite the countx- of 
Amelia, who.se negro population exceeds its white bv about five hundred; a county 
in which there has never been any cheating; a count\- which gave Republican 
majorities— for Cameron, for governor, in 1881, for Blaine in 1884, for mvself in 1885, 
for every Re]iublican Congressman who has ever run, and for Harrison in 1888 — rang- 
ing from two hundred to six hundred ; and )et a county whose every officer, from Com- 
monwealth's .\ttorney to Commissioner of the Revenue, except Sheriff, is a Demo- 

62 



crat: because the ne.s^ro voters supported them in fair elections as better qualified 
than their Republican opponents, some of whom were excellent gentlemen, and some 
of whom were black. This is but one of many counties I mii^ht name. It is at once 
a refutation of the Bourbon jjretense that cheating is a necessity, and proof of the 
time-houored saw that "honesty is the best policy." 

But, suppose the doing of what the.se men are sworn to do shall bring upon 
them the woes they pretend to fear, is that an excuse for theft, perjury, and, if need 
be, murder? "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his 
own soul?" Is it not a thousand times better to give the experiment of negro suf- 
frage a fair trial than to conxert whole communities into the practice of murder, 
theft, and ])erjurv? How shall a just and sympathetic nation ever be able to tell 
whether this thing of negro suffrage is right or wrong, if the people who clamor 
against it so hmdly not only give them no chance tu judge of it when honestly tried, 
but actually cheat the nation and exasperate the persons from whom they might 
expect redress if it be found unbearable when fairh- tried. Are they not degrading 
themselves ? destroying the whole moral tone of their own communities ? wronging 
other constituencies ? sapping public faith in the ballot system ? rendering it utterly 
impo.ssible to get honest redress from those who alone can give it if this suffrage, 
after fair trial, be found a failure? and laying the foundation of iinnimerable woes 
to the Republic by persisting in the criminal, immoral, and suicidal violence which 
has stamped the career of vSouthern Democracy since 1869? 

It was on this issue that I broke away from Southern Bourbonism. I lo\-e 
m\ race. In anv fairl\- drawn contest between the white and black race I would, 
most assuredh-, be found with the whites. If Republicanism meant negro suprem- 
acy in the South, it could not carry a single Northern State on any such unnatural 

61 



■^nc. 



tile white Xortli, after seeing a fair and an honest trial of this qnestion of 
negro suffrage, saw all these fine and prodnctive States pass out of the control of 
their own blood and bone, and beheld realized the horrible dreams of Southern 
Bourbonisni, it would leap to the rescue of its vSouthern brethren; its heart not only 
warmed with the generous impulses of our race towards its stiffering fellows, but 
swelling with admiration at the nobility of soul which had made us keep the faith 
and bear the hard terms of the trial placed ujioii us in a period of strife. 

In that wa\-, and in that way alone, can the wrongs of negro suffrage, if they 
be as great as is claimed, be redressed. Never ! never ! can this question be .settled 
so long as it renuuns untried, owing to the dishonesty of those who demand judg- 
ment without trial. .\ Solid South — solid on such false and criminal lines as have 
made it .solid in the past — will be met, in every demand it makes, by a Solid North; 
and e\-erv specious plea it makes for a redress of its grie\'aiices will be answered by 
the firm, cold, united breath of this people, " Let the South first be honest." After 
that, peace and fraternity will come as sureh' as the night doth follow day. Until 
then there is not, there cannot, and there never will be, peace between the sections. 
[.Vpplause.] 

It was oil this issue that I broke away from the Democracy of the South. I 
love the South — I love her peo])le. I appreciate their good qualities and know her 
great possibilities, but I also know that the course of her politics is suicidal, and 
that there is no hope for her while she pursues the mad career mapped out for her 
by her politicians for many years gone by. [Applause.] 

The election of General Harri.son opens up a possibility of change. He is no 
alien to that section. He is bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh. He is wise, 
conservati\e, and just; at the .same time he is a man of great firmness. With these 

64 



Itialitics il iiia\- be ])Ossible that lie shall iininess the Sniith with the .L;Teat truth 



lat Die issue helweell that seeli.i 



parlv IS the siuip 



liuiR>l\, helni-c wliieli all others uiiist relive until the Sniilh eouseuLs tn he honest. 
That tliat ix.iiit hnii- .settled, all (.tilers are eas\- ul' adjustment. Wdieii it is .settled 
the whole nation, and no part of it more than the South, will hless him for destroyiiip- 
Ihereb)- the Solid South. It is nonsense to call the South dislo\al in the .seii.se of 
expressing an idea that ain- considerable number of j)eo])le there would destroy or 
retire from the I'nioii if they could do so. There is no such feeliii-. The iies^ro 
question is the root of all the trouble. A tliin_t; occurred just as I was leaxiii^ \'ir- 
ginia which touched me iue.\pres-,il)ly ; and was about as good an illustration of the 
utter subsidence of anything like the old war feeling as it was jiossible to ha\-e. 

The last act of my residence in \'irginia was to present a stand of colors to the 
cadets of the \'irgiiiia Militar\ Institute. The bo\s had l)eeii l.)rouglit down to the 
State Ivxpositioii — the same cor|is which, in the sjuiiig of 1S64, had been ordered 
out in the Confederate ranks, (the "seed com of the Coufederac\ " as tlie\' were 
called), and .sent into the vallev to fight with Sicgel; the same corps which had 
gloried in those days in the success of the Confederate cause; that had marched to 
Richmond from the \-alle\-; that had wheeled proudly aroiiml the moiiunieiit in the 
Capitol vScpiare in 1S64, to recei\'e from the (io\-ernorof \'irginia a stand of colors 
for gallantry 111 actii.iu on the Conlederate side. And there in the midst of iiu- old 
Democratic comrades, in iSSS, I was honored 1)\- being selected to present the 
colors — which was not onl\- the ensign of \'irgiiiia, but the .Stars and .Stripes. 
[Cheers. J It was a scene of great enthusiasm. It was one which stirred the blood 
of every man present; it was one which brought forth tears for its sacred memo- 



the fathers who were present, as tliey saw their brave, bright bo\s in ranks. Twen- 
ty-five years ago I had been one of them, and to-da\- there stood ni\' own oklest 
boy, in gray, in tlie place whicli I occupied so long ago. In presenting the colors, 
without belittling the glorious old ensign of Virginia, I said, in presenting the 
National ensign, " Dear bo\'s; events of recent \ears occurring before you were 
born, set the dye of those stripes in the blood of your fathers to wa\-e forever 
o'er a perpetual Union; and there lies your first duty. In that cloudless field of 
blue, by events wdiich were determined ere yet you were begot, those stars were 
placed forever, with one for e\-ery .State of the Union, and demanding your first 
allegiance to the ensign of your Xation." No sentiment I uttered received more 
genuine applause than that, and they were Democrats as well as Republicans. 
In our recent struggle, my brethren, it was not only the flag of our Nation, but of 
the Republican Part)-; that banner, that is good enough for everv one, was carried 
by this party everywhere, and our principles were not based upon an^■ such idea 
that we had to dodge around them b\- the subterfuge of a bandanna for certain 
uncertain sections. [Applause.] 

Let us make it the flag of the Nation; let us make it the party of the Nation. 
We want to hear in these four years, and many years that are to come, from the lips 
of a Harrison no word of sectionalism. He is the Harrison of .South as well as of 
North. He is the expounder of principles which are as dear to them as to us. 
Kindness and firmness, and adherence to the fundamental principles of our part\-, — 
not sectionalism, — but a firm, urgent, decisive demand for honestv which is not 
sectional, will make the Republican Party strong in everv .section of this coun- 
try, and put at rest forever this hated word, the Solid South. [Uoud and long 
api)lau.se. ] 

66 



Mr. DkpKW:— fk-ntlemcn, if the Solid South breaks up and crystallizes into 
units "like-Wise," [laui^diter] the war was not fought in vain. We expected here 
to-night our friend, Mr. Wliitelaw Reid, who has conducted so admirably, during 
this caiu-ass, the great Republican organ which has done such signal service for the 
part)-; but he writes me that he could not break another engagement which he was 
bound in honor to till. But we ha\-e with us a gentleman who has established a 
paper for the masses. He has made it the infant giant of jouruali.sm. It talks in its 
own tongue, and then it repeats what the "parrot" has said. We have with us 
both the editor and parrot, and his name is Porter. 

[Cries of, " He's the young man that did it."] 

MR. PORTER. 

j\Ir. Presidkxt .WD Gf:xtlkmex: — I regret very much to find that you have 
put me down to-night for a dead is.sue. The "Bowery parrot" and its cry, the 
"Tariff is a tax," .so far as the Democratic Party is concerned, is dead. My friend, 
Mr. Cooper, however, has informed me since I have been in this hall, that up in 
lUiffalo thev have a parrot which, I should think, at this time, would be more of a 
live i.ssue than the "Bowery parrot." :\[r. Cooper's parrot has learned to say, " Pm 
a liar; the tariff ain't a tax." [Laughter.] Battered by argument, humiliated by 
exposure, made ridiculous b>- aggressive statements, robbed of its pretensions to 

67 



economic wisdom 1)\- facts and fi-nrcs, and ])lnckc(l of ils mnsl loved and valued 
plunia-e, " llie spoils," bv the Repnhliean ea-le, llie " I'.owcrN parn .1 ' ' rises from 
the dolefnl .lehris of tlie Democratic I'artN and slnieks, with the little voice it has 
left, "The tariff is a tax," | Lall-htcr .iild cheers.] 

Ill .some respects, .<;eiitlemeii, perhaps the tariff is a tax. It has certaiiiK', 
dnriiii; the period that we have enjo\ed the present tariff, "taxed" the ])rodiictive 
jiowers of this cnnntrx until we find the ]io]>nlation has increased 20,000,000. Under 
the tariff we have doubled the ])opulatiou of our cities. It lias "taxed" our coal 
mines until, instead of ])rodncin,L; (_)nl\- i4,oo;),o()i » tons of coal, we are now jiro- 
ducin.i;' 100,000,000 tons. It has " taxed " the in.^ennit\- and the enteriirise of (lur 
ca]iitalists until, in ])lace of 35,000 miles of railroad, we now have 150,000 miles; it 
has "taxed" the carrvin^L; ]iower of these railroads until, instead of haulino- 
7o,(x)o,ooo ttnis of freiiiht, we are now carryini^- 550,000,000 tons; it has "taxed" 
the ])owers of our ore mines and ore banks until, instead of produciuL,^ as we were in 
iS^K) but ()oo,oo() tons of iron ore, we are now ]iroducin,<^ 10,000,000 tons, and a 
oodd deal of it in tlie South, where mv friend. Air. Wise, comes from— the new 
industrial South we hear so much about. [Cheers.] 

Turniui;- to oiir niannfactnrin.o- interests, wdi.it has the tariff done tlierc? 
It has "taxed " tlie metal industries until, instead of em]>lo\-in,i;- 6(1,000 ])eoplc, the\- 
now s;ivc cm])lo\nient to 4<.)o,ooo; it has "taxed" oiir wool and woolen industries 
until we now em])lo)- 200,000 where we did i.in]ilo\' but 6; 1,000; it has "taxed" Jolin 
P.ull, out of 60,000,000 of custouKTs, for his cottons and carpets, and we now make 
tliost- iirodncts as well and as cheai)l\' at lioiiie. 

'rnruin.i; from the manufictnrin.i; inlerests, (brcinse I know ni\- time ou,<;ht to 
be short), what has this "xicious, illo.i^ical, and iniiinituns tariff lax ''■ done to the 



fanninj^ interests of the country? It has "taxed" the poor tarnier so tliat, instead 
of ha\-ing 2,000,000 farms when it was first enacted, he has now 4,000,000; it has 
"taxed" the vahie of these farms to such an extent that, instead of being worth 
6,000,000,000 of dollars as they were in 1S70, the\- were worth 10,000,000,000 of 
dollars in 1880, and much more to-day; and, :\Ir. President, it has "taxed" the soil 
of this conntrv to such an extent that, instead of producing 1,250,000,000 bushels of 
orain, we are now prodticing 3,000,000,000 of Inishels; and, lastly, fellow-Spell- 
binders,— and }-ou have all heard of this, and have had, I have no doubt, to explain 
it upon the stump,— it has "taxed" the poor sheep of the country until, instead of 
producing 60,000,000 pounds of wool, they are now compelled to produce 300,000,- 
000 pounds. [Applause and cheers.] 

But at this hour, and upon this joyful occasion, it is not necessary for me to 
go into an\- elaborate explanation of wh>- the tariff is not a tax upon the consumers. 
The " Bowery parrot" was created to show the absurdity of the cry, the "Tariff is 
a tax," and facts and figures thoroughly establish the protectionist's position, that 
home competition brings down the price of all commodities manufactured in this 
country. But strong as these cold facts are your Spellbinders have, undoubtedly, 
found that among the wage earners of the land the tariff is a good deal a question 
of wages. They have looked into the .subject carefully, and they judge it almost 
entirely from that standpoint. The American workman fully realizes that free trade 
means not onh' reduction of wages, but the emplo>inent of the women of his family 
in order to support the famih-. This idea is repulsive to him. The American work- 
man knows that on the other side of the water his wife and mother, his sister and 
his sweetheart, have to labor in order to make sufficient money to maintain the 
familv; and the American workman does not want to see his women folks work, as I 

69 



have seen them, barefooted, in tlie brick-yards of "Merrie" England; the working- 
man of this countr\' does not want to see the women folks of his family sunburnt 
and bent, as I have seen them, with a rojje o\er their shoulders, along the dykes and 
canals of " picturesque " Holland; the workingnian of this country does not want to 
see his wife and mother hitched up like a ijeast of burden, as I luue seen women in 
Austria-Hungary; the workingman of this country does not want to graduate his 
daughter as a filler of blast furnaces and a digger in coal mines, as I have seen them 
in "busy" Helgium; the workingman of this coinitry does not want to see his wife 
and mother working around the coke ovens, as I have seen them in "sunny" 
France; and he does not want to see them bearing the heat and burden of the day, 
as I have seen them in the harvest fields of the Fatherland; and, lastlv, thank Cxod, 
he does not want to see them mixing mortar and carrying the hod to the scaflfold 
where the ])uil(ler is building, as I have seen them in that beautiful citv of Stock- 
holm, ill vSwedeii. I say, again, tlie American workman does not want to see woman 
thus abased and degraded, even though, b\- so doing, we are able to manufacture 
and build a little cheaper. [I^oud cheers.] 

And now, Mr. President and gentlemen, having said a few words upon what 
I cannot help regarding the dead issue allotted me to-night, may I be allowed to sa>- 
a few words uiwii what 1 regard as three living issues? [Cries of, "Go on! go 
on I"] F'irst, then, I want to entreat you in regard to my first proposition, because 
I know you are all orators, and men v,-ho will take an active part in shaping the 
future policy of the Republican l'art>-. [Cries of, "We are ! we are.'"] We, as 
Republicans, will soon be brougiit face to face with this tariff question, and then we 
have got to act; and I trust that the Republican Part\-, in acting upon the Senate 
Bill, or upon any bill that may come up for action, will be guided bv the broadest 



princi])les of Protection. I hope tliat wherever we can see an opportunity to 
strengthen an industry in this country, or, if necessary, to create one, tliat that will 
be done without hesitation. Reiueniber, we have pledged ourselves to REVISE, not 
merely REDUCE, the tariff. 

Our President has said to-night that this will end the Solid South. Let us 
hope .so. And that l)rings me to the second living issue on which I want to say a 
word. This victory enables the Republican Party to take the next cen.sus. A 
census is a \er\- important matter. Upon that census our representation in Congress 
hinges and the next electoral college is based. As a matter of f^ict, through 
mistakes in the census in 1S70, the South, in the last apportionment in 1S82, 
gained no less than fotirteen Congressmen. Whereas the great manufacturing 
States of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the New England States, with 
a population aggregating about the same, lost one Congressman. Now, relatively 
speaking, that abnormal increase will correct itself this time. The great Repub- 
lican States will gain most of the new Congressmen, because the errors in the census 
of 1.S70 made the increase in population only nine per cent, between 1860 and 1870, 
and thirty-fi\-e per cent, between 1870 and 18S0. The increase in population in the 
Western States did not exceed this during the last census decade. The coming 
census should show a much greater per cent, of gain in population in the Western 
Republican States than in the States belonging to the Solid South. This increased 
representation b\- increase in population, together with the increase resulting from 
the admission of at least three territories, ought, unless all signs fail, to break up 
the Solid South. [Applause.] 

The last thing I want to say is this, and I say it from the bottom of my heart, 
because it is something we must at once face: We are told by our adversaries that 



the campaign just closed has been an "educational campaign." We must continue 
this "educational campaign." The New York S/t;/ does not like an "educational 
campaign," because, as the shrewd editor of that paper has long since di.scerned, 
when 3-ou educate a Democrat, you make a Republican of him. There is a gentle- 
man sitting here on this platform, who deserves more credit than any other one man 
in tlws country for conducting that "educational campaign." I refer to Mr. Edward 
H. Amniidown, the president of the American Protective Tariff League. It affords 
pleasure for me to say, right here, before this di.stinguished audience that, when we 
were beaten in 1SS4, :\Ir. Amniidown and a number of other public-spirited citizens 
went to work and organized the Tariff League. P>y the aid of that League we have 
opened up avenues b\- which we can reach the masses of the people all over this 
country; we have opened up avenues of information in every State and Territory; 
and I beseech >-ou to see to it that these avenues are kept open during the next four 
years, and that the people are properly educated on this great and vital question of 
the tariflf. 

I thank \-ou very much for such courteous consideration at so late an hour, 
and bid you good-night. [Loud cheering.] 



AIr. Depew: — Gentlemen, the tax has done very well in producing young 
Reijublican journalists. There is among the Spellbinders one man, who, on all 
occasions for the last fifty years, has been held in reser\'e to keep the audience. If 
there is a statesman whose speech is long, a cabinet minister \shose utterances are 



prosy, an authoritative voice whicli nol)ocly wishes to listen to, the\- keep this man 
in order that the audience will stay with tlie statesman. It has been his fate for 
half a century to fill this ImII, and he has filled it well; and when he has come on 
afterwards, the audience has remained spellbound. He suffers to-ni!.;hl from the 
fact that the speeches which have preceded him have been good ones, a thing which 
never occurred to him before. I have the pleasure of introducing (General George 
A. Sheridan. 

GENERAL GEORGE A. SHERIDAN. 

Mr. Spk.akkr .\xi) Fki.i.dw-Sixxhrs — Diners, I mean— [laughter]:— A few 
days ago I received an invitation to be ])resent on this occasion. I did not doubt 
the propriety of ni\- being here, but I had grave apprehensions as to the wisdom 
of coming. The only thing I have of any particular value in this world to me, 
is mv life, and I have never willingly, nor consciously, put it in peril. My army 
record will certainly show that. [Laughter.] When I received the invitation I 
called upon the gentleman who sent it, to learn something of this matter. He told 
me that three hundred Republican Stump Orators were to assemble at Delmonico's. 
I asked him if he had made any arrangement with the police. He said, "No." 
I asked him if he had called upon the United States military forces. He said, 
"No; whv should I?" "Well," I replied, "for protection." I said, further, 
"My friend, >ou are being mislead; this is a put up job; somebody is influencing 
you in the wrong direction; do you mean to tell me that you are going to get three 

73 



hundred stump orators too;ethcr in one place, without military or civil protection?" 
He said, "Yes." "Well," I said, "the citizens of this great metropolis will rise 
in their might. They will murder the last one of us." He said he thought not; 
but I concluded he did not realize what he was doing, so I visited the chief of 
police, and asked him if he had heard an>thing of an uprising on Wednesday night; 
he said he had not, and wanted to know if I had any reason to expect one. I said, 
"Yes; at Delmonico's three hundred Republican stump speakers are to gather on 
Wednesdav night." The chief looked thoughtful for a moment, and then said, 
"That certainh' is a matter that needs consideration, I will immediately give it my 
attention." He then said to me, " Why do yoti take an\- interest in this matter; 
are you an orator?" I bowed my head and said, modestly, "Yes, sir." [Laughter.] 
"Well," said he, "You don't look like one." I asked him what I did look like, 
and he said, "Why you look more like a butcher." [Loud laughter.] I immedi- 
ately concluded that man had heard me speak somewhere when I was murdering the 
King's English. [Laughter.] My visit, however, satisfied me that there was no 
personal danger to me in making one of the proposed gathering, so I determined to 
come, and I am here. 

After I had made uji my mind to come, I picked up a morning paper and 
saw a toast to which I was to respond : " The Soil under our Feet." I said to the 
gentleman who sent the in\'itation, " Do \ou think such a toast is the proper thing 
for such an occasion?" He said, "Why not?" I replied, "This is to be a 
banquet; I don't want to make a funeral oration, and, if I resp(.)nd to that toast, I 
must. ' The Soil under our Feet ' ; that certainly means the I )emocratic Party. 
That part\- is certainly dead. I don't want to preach about it; I want to eat on tliis 
occasion." [Lattghter.] He replied, that I had entireK- misconstrued the tendency 

74 



and scope of the toast; that nobod\- but a born idiot or an inspired ass would have 
pnt any sncli construction iqxMi the toast as I liad. I am ver\- glad I have come, 
and I will make yuu, one and all, happy, b\- promising that my speech shall be very 
short. 

"The vSoil under our Feet ! " That is a good deal just now. The fact that a 
man owns a piece of soil on which he treads is a very satisfactory assurance to him; 
but, when three hundred men gather together, as we have to-night, with the convic- 
tion deep in our hearts that we not only own the soil under our feet, but are the 
owners in fee simple of the entire continent, and all that it holds, we may be 
pardoned for feeling ver\- comfortable. "The Soil under our Feet" is the grand- 
est soil that any party or nation ever trod upon, and it is the mission of the 
Republican Party to .see that out of that .soil the best development po.ssible is 
made for the 65,000,000 people who have intrusted their destin\- to its keeping. 
[Applause.] 

The Republican Party, as Air. Wi.se remarked, "has come back," and he 
miglit have added, " it has come back to stay." [Applau.se.] I like to .see Repub- 
licans of his cla.ss come U]i from the .South — if the Democratic view is right about 
the effect of the Indlet that hit him on the head, if it did make him crazy, I have 
simply this to say: I would rather ha\'e one such crazy Republican as he is come 
from the vSouth than a million sane Democrats. [Applau.se.] 

(_)f course, this is a great, a .splendid political victor\-; and when the question 
is asked, "Who accomplished it? " there is not one of us here who will not .say, " I 
did it." When I remember the ma.ss of accurate and carefully gathered " IVIisinfor- 
mation " that we three hundred men spread among the people of this countr\- on 
the tariff question, it is a.stoni.shing to me that they know anything about it at all. 

75 



It was a ina.L^mificciit opportunity; never shall we have sucli anotlier. Tiie people 
did not know anything' aliont the tariff; we knew less, but we had the floor. 
[Cheers and lan.i;hter.] So we let them have our views, ri,t,'-ht and left — "hi.i^h 
tariff," and "low tariff," "free trade and Protection," "tariff for revenue," and 
"revenue for tariff" — anxthini;- that hit. I think there is only one point that we 
made absolutely and perfecth- clear to everybody who listened to us, and that was: 
The nature and character of "Raw Material." We gave them an object lesson 
e\-ery time we got up to speak. In us the\- beheld the "rawest" kind of material. 
I think, perhaps incidentally, too, we were the means of their securing some 
\-alualjIe information upon the tariff, because our statements taken together were .so 
bewildering that a nuin of any common sense at all was forced into reading some- 
thing on the subject, and thereby he gained a knowledge of it, at least to a certain 
e.xtent. [Laughter.] 

Xow, nu' friends, I heard a great many speeches during this campaign uj^on 
the tariff, but of all the speeches I heard, the one that I think hit the nail square on 
the head and most completely and thoroughly demolished the Democratic i:)Osition 
on the tariff was the one I had the honor of delivering something like one hundred 
times. [Loud laughter and applau.se.] Of course, I don't expect an)- one of these 
three hundred orators to agree with me on this point. I know that each one of them 
thinks that the really effective piece of work done in the campaign, — the speech that 
settled the matter conclusively, — ^was the little speech he fired off. I don't find any 
fault with an\l)od\- for so feeling; all the .same, however, I am going to cling to the 
idea that I did it, because that is the onl\- compensation that I have thus far had in 
this campaign for my work; and, as General Harri.son knows me prettv well, I expect 
it is all the compensation I shall receive. [Cheers and laughter.] I do not find any 

76 



fault with anybody who thinks lie did it, because I know Harrison is a kind-hearted 
uiau and if he becomes convinced that any one man in this country thinks he is the 
l)arty who did it all, he never will disturb his contemplation of that fact by forcing 
upon him the cares of administrative office. [Loud laughter.] 

The Republican Party has come back; it has the soil under its feet, and it has 
the Democratic Party there also. [Cheers.] Once more the banner of the Grand Old 
Part\', leaping from the dust, confronts the skies in triumph, and all the stars upon 
its silken folds send glorious greeting to their sisters shining there. [Applau.se.] 
Once more the people of this country have proclaimed in thunder tones to the 
nations of this earth that America is for Americans, and that we do not need sugges- 
tions from lands across the sea as to Ikjw we shall be governed. [Applause.] Once 
more the Solid Sotith has been taught that when it confronts the mighty North in 
conflict its strength is but as a babe's that wrestles with a giant. [Applause.] Once 
more the people of this country, in retiring Orover Cleveland and the party that 
nominated him, ha\e affirmed their belief that the Democratic Party, the party that 
betrayed the Nation's trn.st, that maligned its .soldiers— living and dead— is not the 
party in whose hands and keeping this Go\ernment is safe. [Applause.] Once more 
the people of this Republic have affirmed their belief in, and their love for, the men 
who saved the Nation in its hour of peril, by placing in a soldier's hand a sceptre 
such as never yet glorified the palm of czar or king— the sceptre of anthorit>- over 
65,000,000 free people. [Cheers and applause.] That flag [pointing to the flag] 
is the American flag; and, nn- friends, >-ou need not have the slightest fear that the 
Republican Part\- will forget that its mission is to see that no man under its folds is 
deprived of any right, [(rreat applause.] 

The Republican Part)- is a great part\-; thus far it has met and mastered every 



problem tliat lias been presented for its action. It has stumbled sometimes, but 
every time it rose again, notwithstanding- the fall; and it was a little further in 
advance than when it fell. [Applause.] 

M>- fellow-citizens, there is one resolve planted deep down in the heart of the 
Republican Party,— and the heart of the Republican Party is the heart of the Amer- 
ican people,— and that is the resolve that, wherever our flag flies upon this soil, wher- 
ever the white light of its stars shines down, there shall be three things: Free speech, 
a free ballot, and an honest count of that ballot. We will have it so, North, South, 
East, and West alike, or, by the living God, this continent will rock and reel, as it 
never \-et reeled, in the shock of war. [(keat applause.] .Vnd the sooner the people 
of the South realize this fact, the quicker this conviction forces itself into their 
hearts, the better, and the happier, and the safer it will be for them. [Applause.] 
It is impossible that the great North — the land of libert\-, of progress, of industr)- — 
can be held in check b}- the few States constituting the Solid South. Thank God, 
one wedge has entered there already. \'irginia — new \'irginia and old \'irginia — 
are coming, with drums beating and colors fl>ing, to join their destin\- with the Re- 
publican Party. We have broken their line of battle, we have tlie sweep, we have 
the momentum, and we have a man at the head of affairs, or will have on the fourth 
of March, who cannot be swerved from his dut\- b\- any Mugwump sentimentality. 
The Republican Partv is soon to be in power; it has the Nation at its back; it has 
nearlv everything it wants; and what it has not it soon will ha\-e. [Cheers.] 

W'e, as speakers, according to our gifts and abilities, from the "King of us 
all" — Depew — down to the .smallest voice that piped its song on the platform, con- 
tributed to bring about the blessed change that promises .so much to the Nation. 
We cannot all speak alike— that is a blessed thing— [laughter] but there is one 

7H 



thin.i;- in which we are all alike, absolutely. I was in Maine in the canvass of i8So. 
Maine is not celebrated for its <,^o(k1 hotels, but there was one hotel— at Bangor— 
where the landlord was a genial, jolly fellow, and the speakers of both parties, when- 
ever it was possible, met at that point to pass vSunday. There were good churches in 
the town— that was the loadstone that chiefly drew us there. [Laughter.] The land- 
lord gave us a great big back room and plent\- of cigars and ice water, (>-ou could 
not get anything but ice water in Maine), and, after the afternoon service in church, 
we would gather there to compare notes. Well, the Sunday before election, there 
came a knock on the door. I, being nearest, opened it. I was confronted by a typ- 
ical, old Xew England sea captain. He said, " You boys seem to be having lots of 
fun in there; I would like to get in." I told him we were only a lot of political speak- 
ers, and we had nothing but ice water to drink. [Derisive laughter.] However, he 
came in, and we wrestled with that old fellow for two hours and a half to get him 
to commit himself ui)on a single point. He .said, " I go and hear one of you Demo- 
cratic bovs talk, and I go home and .say to my.self, 'Well, Hancock is a pretty good 
fellow; I guess I'll vote for him.' Then I go to hear a Republican, and I go home 
and sav to nK)ther, '(iarfield is a powerful man; I guess I shall have to vote for 
him.' " We told him he would have to make up his mind pretty quickly. " Yes," 
he said, " I will between now and election." We asked him which side had the best 
speakers. He .said, "Well, that is a pretty hard question to answer; you're all 
mightv bright yoinrg men." Well, is there anything about ns on both sides that 
strikes you as peculiar? "Yes," .said the old chap, with a twinkle in his eye, 
"there is one thing I have noticed about all on >ou; that is that none of vou ever 
spile a good speech because your facts gin out." [Cheers and laughter.] In this 
respect, if in no other, my fellow-Spellbinders, we can claim to be alike as orators. 

79 



]\I\- friend, Mr. Depew, sa\s I lia\e been speakiiicr for about fifty years. I 
remember once, when I was a little bo\- in knickerbockers, I went with nn- father 
to a political nicetino;. When we arri\ed, a tall, bald-headed, side-whiskered, pleas- 
ant-faced gentleman was makinij a speech; he told funny stories, said funny things, 
and completely captured my boyish fi^ncy. I said to m>- father, "Who is that 
man?" He replied, "Why, my .son, that's old Chauncey Depew, a man who has 
been the leading orator of this country for the last sixt\- \ears." So you see, old as 
I am at this business, I feel like a child in the presence of a man who first awakened 
ni}- boyi.sh enthusia.sm, and fired me with the determination to become a Spellbinder. 

Now, gentlemen, there are many waiting to have their little say, and so, out 
of consideration for these anxious ones — and for >-on also — I bring my Spell to a 
close, and resume m\- seat. [Great cheering. ] 



Mr. Dkpf.w: — rjentlemen, we have listened to the \-eterans; now let us hear 
from the \ouths. As we have heard from the old, we will end with the >-oung. Mr. 
(kithrie will pronounce the benediction. 



MR. CtUTHRIE. 

Mr. Ch.\irm.\x: — If there is one element which may be .said to be character- 
istic of this election and to distinguish the campaign from ]neceding ones, it is the 
active part taken on both sides by the young men of the countrw Men who were }et 
unborn or mere children when heroic Sheridan dashed along the road from Winches- 



ter to Cedar Creek, now hold the power, by their votes, to shape the destinies of the 
Nation. It seems to be felt everywhere that the time has come for the new genera- 
tion to prepare for the responsibilities of government. As the inangnraticni of Presi- 
dent Harrison opens the second centnry of our constitution, it shall be the duty and 
ambition of the generation to which I belong to perpetuate throughout that century 
the prosperitN- and general happiness of the present. No grander task could be 
allotted to men. 

The vonng "Spellbinder" must, indeed, be cold who does not feel his pulse 
beat faster to-night from the consciousness of a.ssociation and alliance with so many 
men here present, who, thirty >-ears ago were la>-ing, and whose efforts cemented, 
the foundations of the Republican Party. The result of your devotion and your 
efforts will shape the fortunes of our children and our cliildren's children. We will 
hold up for their emulation the e.\am])le of >our fidelit\- to principle and to countr\-. 
l!ul \()ur work has been in vain, the immense sacrifice is futile, unless my generation 
is wortlu- of this great trust. Von now leave and confide to us the obligation and 
the dut\- of maintaining and defending what you have Iniilt up. The responsibility 
of government must shorth' descend to us. Will we do ain'thing worthy to be men- 
tioned with \ our work "^ Let us hope so. Let our ambition be to equal the record 
you have made. In so noble a pursuit let us stand as on a high mountain peak, 
lifted alike above our own local interests and selfish motives, and able, with a 
broader horizon, to see and weigh the needs and the demands of our countr>- as a 
whole; so that to our national vision there shall be no State lines,— no North, no 
j^ojith,— but only "one country, one constitution, one destiny." And we shall ever 
hope that when the ebbing tide shall carry the last breath of our generation far 
awaN- out into the sea of eteruit>-, we ma>- be able to la>- at the feet of the immortal 



leaders of the party, — Lincoln, vSeward, drant, and Conkling-,— as the result of our 
life's work, the picture of a cominon countr}- completeh- re-united, where, politically, 
there no longer exists any North nor any South. 

Three hours of speeches are enough to exhaust e\-eu \our enthusiasm. To 
continue further is to trespass on your patience. But before we break up let me 
voice one sentiment. In the last number of the XorlJi American Review General 
Sherman published an article on the Camp Fires of the Grand Army of the Repub- 
lic. In that article runs a vein of sadness, as if the old warrior doubted the patriot- 
ism of the young men of to-day. He said that a great danger lurks over the land, 
namely (these are the General's own words) : "That the next generation ma^• con- 
clude that the wise man stays at home and lea\-es the fool to take the buffets and 
kicks of war." I belie\e General Sherman is wrong. I believe that the heroi.sm of 
the war has begot a patriotism in the >oung men of to-day strong and deep. We 
young men revere and worship the soldiers of that war as Pagans used to worship 
their gods. Every reference during the campaign to the heroes of the war, made b\- 
either Republicans or Democrats, was received with acclamations and cheers. We 
)-oung men ma>- truly say to General Sherman that there lurks no such danger; that 
we have inherited the spirit of the war; that the fires of patriotism still burn; and 
that this generation shall not be found wavering or halting if our countrv .shall ever 
require the .sacrifice of our lives. 



;\Ik. Dkpkw:— Gentlemen, the first meeting of the Siiellbinders has come to 
a close. l-'or twent>-five years I have attended from twenty-five to fifty dinners, 

S2 



aninmllv, in tliis hall. This is the only one, dnrino; the whole period, where the 
larj^re majority of the audience has staid until one o'clock in the uiorning. Half- 
past eleven usually closes the interest of the audience, and the speaker who remains 
speaks to himself P>ut the vS])ellbiiuler has demonstrated that he won this fi.i,dit. 
He has held here not only himself, hut a listeninjj audience which has hung 
breathless upon his words. The base suggestion that all of them who join here 
to-night expected to .speak, we dismiss; and, by the authority residing in me, I 
pronounce the first meeting of the Spellbinders a success, and closed. 



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